


Summer Camp and Soulmates

by londonbrigid201



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Bisexual Allura (Voltron), F/F, F/M, Fluff, Lesbian Romelle (Voltron), Lotor is a greasy ass bitch, Mutual Pining, Pining Allura (Voltron), Pining Romelle (Voltron), Romelle and Allura are soulmates, Some heterosexual elements in the beginning, Soul Bond, They get in a paint fight!, Zethrid and Ezor are cool
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-07-03 15:54:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15822135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/londonbrigid201/pseuds/londonbrigid201
Summary: [A prequel to my klance soulmate au. You don't need to read it to understand this.]~~~ALLURA: But what if she finds out and gets mad at me for not telling her?PIDGE: Then explain to her what happened.PIDGE: Show her this convoALLURA: K, that worksALLURA: But also she’s rlly pretty and I keep seeing that heart I draw on her wrist and I might die soonPIDGE: Wat do you want me to play at ur funeral then??ALLURA: God is a Woman, obviPIDGE: Despacito, got it~~~Exactly as the title says: Summer camp, and soulmates. Romelle is new to Camp Altea, along with her brother Bandor, while Allura has been going for years. When they meet, it paves the way for new friendships, broken relationships, and one new romance (dramatic trail off).Read on for a story that was supposed to be a one-shot, but now has multiple chapters??? How did that happen???Check out my Tumblr! @london-brigid201





	1. Welcome to Camp Altea, a Place I Didn't Even Bother to Describe!

**Author's Note:**

> You know what? I'm actually excited for this fic. I've gotten some advice on how to improve my writing (Thank you, random commenters), so I feel like this'll be a lot better than the klance story I wrote.
> 
> (I actually wrote out an outline - Isn't that exciting??)
> 
> This might take a while to update, what with school starting and my babysitting job and sports all that, but please enjoy this chapter for now.

To Romelle, soulmates were just another part of life. If you can fall in love, you have one.

 

She didn’t talk with hers. It was only occasional doodles between the two of them. Typically, you didn’t actually talk unless you were an adult and had yet to meet them. Then, hesitant greetings were made, and dates were planned. Even now, Romelle barely gave a second glance to the pink heart on her wrist, drawn by her soulmate. She woke up and pulled on a wristband to cover it up. Despite her indifference to it, her soul-link was nobody’s business but her own.

 

After her clothes were on and her wristband was in place, she blearily checked the date and squealed happily. June 15th. By 3 o’clock, she would be at camp.

 

She bounced down the steps, humming to herself, and arrived in the kitchen. Bandor, her brother, was already waiting for her. He smiled at her cheekily and took a bite of the apple in his hand.

 

“Downstairs already, Romelle? I thought you always stayed in bed on your phone until 9, at least,” he teased, mouth full of apple.

 

Romelle rolled her eyes and flicked him in the head. “Eat with your mouth closed. You’re disgusting.”

 

He rubbed the spot where she hit him and scowled. “I can see the morning hasn’t made you any nicer to me,” he muttered under his breath.

 

She ignored the jab and made her way over to the fridge. Pulling out a jug of orange juice, she looked back at Bandor.

 

“Do you know if Father is home? I’m finished packing for camp, but I want him to look over what I packed in case I missed anything.”

 

Bandor shook his head. “I woke up an hour ago and his car was already gone, so no. He’ll probably be home by-- What are you doing?”

 

Romelle stopped and looked at him curiously. “What?” she asked.

 

He pointed at the bottle of juice in her hands. “You’re-- You’re drinking straight from the jug! That’s gross!”

 

She shrugged. “Not really,” she replied. She took a few more sips, wiped off the rim with a towel, and put it back in the fridge. Ignoring the shocked expression on Bandor’s face, she poured a bowl of cereal and began to walk out of the kitchen.

 

“Let me know when Father gets back. Until then, I’ll be in my room.”

 

* * *

 

Allura drew a pink heart on her wrist every morning since she was ten.

 

As a kid, she’d been eager to meet her soulmate. When the link opened, she’d drawn the first heart on her wrist and made her way to school. She’d expected to immediately recognize a pink heart on someone’s wrist, so they’d immediately become best friends. Six years later, it was now just a habit of hers. Wake up, get dressed, draw a heart, eat breakfast. She barely even thought about her soulmate when she did it.

 

After drawing the heart today, she picked up her phone and texted a quick good morning to her boyfriend, Lotor. They weren’t soulmates, but neither of them really thought about that. He responded, and she put down her phone to go downstairs, where she was greeted by her uncle.

 

“Ah, Allura! I see you’re already dressed for the day,” he said with a cheery smile. She smirked slightly.

 

“Coran, I always get dressed before I come downstairs,” she replied.

 

He fumbled slightly. “Uh, yes well, I can’t exactly know that, can I? I’m just here today to take you to camp. It’s a shame your parents couldn’t see you off.”

 

She shrugged. “Yes, but duty calls, right? When Honerva asks you to leave two days early for New York because of a work emergency, you go, right?”

 

He chuckled. “Right you are, Princess.”

 

Allura smiled softly at the nickname. Coran had been calling her that for ages, and it never failed to improve her mood. She went into the cabinet and grabbed a bowl. She mindlessly filled it with green pudding from a container in the fridge and sat down at the table. As she began to eat, she heard something slide across the table, and looked up curiously to see a cup of coffee and a beaming Coran sitting next to her.

 

He grinned. “First day at summer camp, right? I figured you’d like some caffeine to jump-start the day.”

 

Allura beamed. “Thank you, Coran.” She took a long sip of the coffee and hummed appreciatively.

 

“This is really good!” she exclaimed. “What did you put in it?” 

 

Coran twirled his mustache and winked at her. “When you run a cafe, you tend to pick up on a few tricks to make your coffee really pop.”

 

She thanked him again, then drained the cup and finished her pudding. Standing up, she put the cup and bowl in the sink and turned back to Coran.

 

“I’m going out for a few hours. I have everything packed for camp, and I’ll be back in time for you to drive me.”

 

He nodded and gave her a quick wave goodbye, and Allura went upstairs to grab her phone and brush her teeth. She went outside and plugged in her earbuds. A soft ballad began to play, and she hummed along as she walked to Lotor’s house. 

 

When she arrived, she quickly texted him to let her in, and waited patiently, turning off her music. Soon, the door opened, and Lotor greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

 

“Allura! Come to help me finish packing?”

 

She laughed. “Though I’m sure you’ve already finished, yes.”

 

He grinned and stepped back to let her in. She immediately made her way up to his room, pushing the door open to find piles of clothes neatly folded on his bed, along with an empty suitcase. She gaped in shock.

 

“Lotor! Did you only start today? We’re supposed to be there four hours from now!”

 

He looked at his feet and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “My apologies. I guess I’ve been so caught up with everything that I forgot.”

 

She playfully punched his shoulder. “Well, looks like I do have to help you now, right?”

 

He smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Hmm, I suppose you do, don’t you?”

 

* * *

 

True to her word, Allura came back home just in time to leave. Coran let out a sigh of relief when he saw her come through the front door, and rushed over.

 

“You’re right on schedule, Princess! I’ve loaded your bags into the car, so we’re ready to go any minute!”

 

She nodded. “Of course, just let me change into something better for camp.”

 

As she went upstairs, Allura felt a tingle on her left arm. She glanced at it to see scrawled handwriting appearing, writing a checklist of some sorts. She ignored it; her soulmate always wrote reminders on their arm. Allura was used to it by now.

 

* * *

 

Romelle was practically vibrating with anticipation. Bandor looked at her, amused. 

 

“I don’t see why you’re so excited. It’s only summer camp, Romelle.”

 

She glared at him. “ _ Just _ summer camp, Bandor? I think you mean Altea, one of the best summer camps on the east coast! And we’re going to it! For the first time!”

 

Bandor rolled his eyes. “You’re exaggerating. It’s a nice summer camp, sure. There will be some snobby rich kids there, but it’s the same as the one we’ve been going to.”

 

She put her hands on his shoulders and stared into his eyes. “Bandor. Baaaandoooor. You don’t understand. This will be amazing, I guarantee it!”

 

He leaned back and pushed her hands off, rolling his eyes yet again. “Okay, Romelle.”

 

She looked out the window excitedly, watching as paved roads turned to dirt, and a sign reading  _ Altea - An Experience You’ll Never Forget! _ flew past on their right side. The car rolled to a stop in a wide parking lot, and Romelle squealed with excitement. Bandor sighed in exasperation.

 

They got out of the car, and Romelle immediately ran over to a grassy patch with bright purple flowers. She knelt down to examine them, but her father interrupted her.

 

“Hey, you still need to unpack your bags!” he called gruffly. She quickly hurried back over and lugged them out of the trunk. She set her bags on the ground, then turned to Bandor, who was still struggling with his first one.

 

“Here, let me,” she said, coming over. With a forceful pull, the huge bag fell out of the car, landing at Bandor’s feet. He smiled at Romelle appreciatively.

 

They heard footsteps coming over, and they turned to see a cheery woman waving at them, wheeling a dolley with her as she walked over. She stuck out a hand in greeting, and their father tentatively accepted it.

 

“Hi, there! My name is Mimi. Since you’re new here, I’ll be showing your kids around for the first day. The main office is over there--” she pointed to a large building about 50 feet away-- ”So you can make your way over to fill out the paperwork, and I’ll take these bags to their cabins!”

 

She watched their father expectantly, seemingly waiting for him to say something. He stared blankly. Romelle quickly stepped in.

 

“Thank you, Miss! I tied a purple ribbon around my bags, and my brother’s all have a green one. I hope that makes it easier to tell the difference.”

 

Mimi beamed at her. “Thank you! I’ll come get you at the office in a few minutes, then I’ll take you on the grand tour.”

 

Romelle nodded, and Mimi loaded up their bags and wheeled them away. Romelle tugged her father’s sleeve, and they walked over to the building Mimi had pointed out.

 

As they walked  over, she looked around at all the people milling around them. Bandor was right about one thing— there  _ were _ a lot of rich kids. But a good half of them were also pretty girls, so Romelle wasn’t complaining.

 

Arriving at the office building, Romelle made herself comfortable by the windowsill, while Bandor lingered beside their father while he signed their papers. Scrolling through her Instagram feed to pass time, Romelle heard the door open, and she looked up to see Mimi walking towards her, a huge smile on her face.

 

“Hiya, Romelle!” she greeted. “You and your brother’s luggage is all sorted out, so as soon as he gets over here, I can take you on the tour! You ready?”

 

Romelle stood up and nodded eagerly. “Of course!” She glanced over her shoulder and called out to Bandor. “Hey, get over here! We’re getting the tour!”

 

Bandor hurried over and shot a bright smile at Mimi. She led them out the door, and their jaws dropped simultaneously as they got their first real look at Altea.

 

* * *

 

Allura hugged Coran goodbye, and watched as he got back into the car and drove away. She walked into camp, carrying her bags, and didn’t even bother to stop in the main office; she’d already sent in all the paperwork online and received her cabin number.

 

As she strolled through the camp, Allura looked with amusement at all the newcomers, spinning around with shining eyes as they took in the camp. Allura remembered her first time coming when she was eleven, when she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the juniberries so carefully planted by the gardeners. It was a completely natural reaction, in her opinion.

 

One girl, running to catch up with her counselor guide, rammed right into Allura, and she let out a surprised  _ oof _ . Her bags dropped to the ground, and the girl squeaked.

 

“Oh, I’m  _ terribly _ sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

 

Allura waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, it’s fine. I wasn’t looking, either,” she said, bending down to pick up her bags. The girl looked down and, seeing her struggle to grab them, immediately leaned down.

 

“I can help you with that!” she said, grasping the handles of the bags. She stood up to hand them to her, and Allura got her first look at the girl.

 

She had dirty blond hair, with pale skin and, strangely enough, purple eyes. Allura looked at them curiously, and she didn’t even notice the outstretched bags until the girl cleared her throat awkwardly.

 

“Oh, yes! Thank you!” she said, blushing.  _ Hopefully  _ _she didn’t see me staring,_ she thought, accepting the bags and hurrying away _. _

 

* * *

 

Bandor nudged Romelle teasingly. “That girl was totally staring at you.”

 

She felt her face heat up. “Shut up!” she said, punching his shoulder.

 

“It’s true,” he said, singsong, “It was like she was lost in your eyes or something. Veeeeerrrrry romantic.”

 

She snorted. “Yeah, right. We literally only talked for five seconds, and it was because I ran into her. Don’t be delusional, Bandor.”

 

He shook his head, looking down at his feet while chuckling. He didn’t see Mimi coming to a stop, so he ran right into her back. He yelped, and Romelle snickered softly as he frantically pinwheeled backwards. Mimi spun around and beamed down at them with her ever-present grin.

 

“Looks like this is your stop, Romelle! Your cabin is right here, number 42. And, lucky you! You’ve only got one other roommate, so there’s plenty of room!”

 

Bandor glanced up at Mimi hopefully. “Do I get extra space too?” he asked.

 

She chuckled and shook her head. “Sorry, buddy. You’ve got two roomies. But don’t worry— it’s not that bad!”

 

He scowled, and Romelle grinned at him smugly. She turned to Mimi.

 

“You already put my bags in there, right?”

 

Her grin widened. “Yup! You can just go in now, say hi to your roomy. Lemme know if you have any questions.”

 

Romelle nodded and watched as she bounced off, Bandor in tow. She faced the door, and, with a deep breath, pushed it open. As she glanced around, she took note of three bunks. One empty, one with her bags on it, and one with another person. Romelle froze when she saw her. A girl with brilliant white hair and dark skin. It was the girl she ran into, not that long ago.

 

_ Here we go, _ she thought.

 

* * *

 

Allura watched the other girl awkwardly, trying to think of something to say. Right now, they were just staring at each other. She tried for a weak grin.

 

“Hi! I’m Allura.”


	2. Oh my God They Were Roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Romelle and Allura have an awkward conversation, and Lotor's true colors are revealed (to Romelle).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I'm having a lot of fun with this story. Like, this chapter is around 2,600 words. That's longer than any other chapter I've written. There's still no good Romelle/Allura content yet, but we're getting there. Very, very slowly. We meet some more characters though, so that's fun! This continues right after chapter one, so the opening might seem a little awkward. Sorry.

The girl jerked suddenly, and blinked in surprise. Allura watched anxiously as she awkwardly ran a hand through her hair.

 

“Uh, hi! I’m Romelle. I guess we already met earlier, when I, uh, you know— ran into you. Sorry, again.”

 

Allura laughed. “No need to apologize again. It wasn’t really the best first impression for either of us.”

 

Romelle’s cheeks turned pink, and she meekly kicked at the floor.  “Yeah.”

 

Allura smirked. "Well? Are you going to come in?"

 

She coughed. "Uh, yeah. I should probably do that."

 

She finally walked into the room and looked around. Allura watched as she began to unpack her bags. They fell into a silence as Romelle methodically put the sheets on her bed and placed her clothes into the cubbies. With everything unpacked, she tried to drag the bag off her bed, only for it to fall right on top of her foot.

 

She yelped in pain and began to clutch her leg. “Shit!”

 

Allura rushed over. “Are you okay?” she asked worriedly.

 

Romelle waved her away. “Trust me, I’m fine. I don’t think it’ll bruise.”

 

Allura breathed a sigh of relief, then looked down at the bag curiously. “What’s in there that made it hurt so much?”

 

Romelle bent down and zipped it opened to reveal an array of books. She grinned sheepishly.

 

“I wasn’t sure how much free time we would have, so I wanted a lot of books to keep me occupied. Too much?”

 

Allura smiled warmly. “No, actually. There’s a lot of downtime between activities, and you can only use your phone at the end of the day.”

 

She nodded thoughtfully. “I take it you’ve been here before?”

 

“It’s actually my sixth year coming to Altea, now. It’s a great camp, trust me. You’ll have a lot of fun.”

 

Romelle beamed. “Thanks.”

 

* * *

 

~Later~

Romelle clutched the rope tightly, her knuckles white. She tried not to think about the distance between her and the ground (50 feet! Why?).

 

“I don’t understand how anyone could find this fun! This is terrifying!” she screeched, knees shaking. Mimi cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted up to her.

 

“It isn’t as bad as it seems, Romelle! Even if you fall, everyone down here is holding your ropes so you don’t get hurt!”

 

She glanced down at the ground, where the rest of the kids in her group were holding ropes attached to she and the other girl with her. She scowled.

 

“That doesn’t exactly give me much comfort,” she muttered under her breath.

 

The other girl, Zethrid, sighed in exasperation. “Can you just grab the next rope already? My arm is getting tired, so either you let me help you over now, or stay there!”

 

“I’d rather stay here, thanks.”

 

Zethrid groaned. “Okay, fine. Guess we’ll do this the hard way.”

 

She swiflty leaned forward and grabbed Romelle’s arm, who could barely even let out a surprised scream before Zethrid had pulled her over and wrapped her hand firmly around the next rope. 

 

"There. Now can you stop being a baby?"

 

Romelle glared at her, then resumed her hugging position on the new rope. Zethrid shot her an exasperated look, and she slowly loosened her grip. Together, they inched along, Zethrid dragging her from one rope to the next, until they reached the end. Mimi called up their final instructions, and Romelle whimpered.

 

“Just let go? I thought we were climbing back down!”

 

Zethrid rolled her eyes. “You’re literally wearing a harness attached to a bunch of ropes. When you let go, everyone else will lower you down slowly.”

 

“What if they lose their grip?” she asked worriedly.

 

“They won’t. I’m bigger than you, and I won’t fall. Watch.”

 

Zethrid let go and leaned back, dangling in the air. Romelle watched as she slowly floated down, laughing all the while. When she landed, she glanced up at Romelle.

 

“See? Not so bad. You’re turn!”

 

Romelle took a deep breath. “Here we go.” With shaking hands. She let go and nervously leaned back, expecting to fall. Instead, she floated down just like Zethrid. Her nerves calmed, she let out a shout of glee as she came down. Landing next to Zethrid, she grinned wildly.

 

“I actually enjoyed that last part! Thank you for helping me out.”

 

Zethrid punched her shoulder. “Took you long enough. I was ready to just pick you up and carry you across myself.”

 

She smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I don’t do well with heights. Or anything scary, for that matter.”

 

Zethrid chuckled. “See, for me, being scared is part of the fun. I like the adrenaline rush.”

 

Romelle waited as another counselor (not Mimi) helped her out of the harness. When she looked back up, she was startled to see another girl watching her very closely. She flinched in surprise, and the girl snickered.

 

“Oh, sorry. Did I scare you?” she asked innocently.

 

Romelle put her hand on her hip and glared at her. “Actually, you did.”

 

The girl grinned with satisfaction. “Ooh, I like you!” She stuck out a hand. “I’m Ezor, Zethrid’s girlfriend.”

 

She shook her hand, then glanced between her and Zethrid. They couldn’t be more different, with Ezor’s pink hair and teasing attitude, and Zethrid’s hulking figure and gruff demeanor. She tilted her head.

 

“So you’re like… dating?”

 

Ezor’s eyes hardened, and Romelle felt her grip tighten. “Yeah, we are. Got a problem with that?”

 

She frantically shook her head. “No! I was just surprised. You two seem so different.”

 

Ezor smirked, and her grip relaxed. “Most people are surprised, too. We were in the same friend group, until we all got into a fight and stopped talking to each other. Zethrid and I were the only ones still friends with each other, then things happened and now we’re dating. Cool, right?”

 

“Oh?” Romelle tilted her head. “Why’d you all get in a fight?” she asked.

 

Zethrid, who had come up behind Ezor to drape an arm over her shoulders, grimaced. “Lotor.”

 

Ezor shuddered at the name, and Romelle looked between them curiously. “Who’s Lotor?”

 

Ezor’s lip curled in disgust. “The worst human being on this entire planet. He starts off all nice, but if you get on his bad side, he really shows his true colors. We met at this camp a few years ago, along with Acxa.”

 

“Acxa’s okay, but we really don’t talk to her now,” Zethrid added.

 

Romelle blinked. “Okay, but what did he do?”

 

They shared a look, then spoke in unison. “The science fair project.”

 

“What happened with the science fair?”

 

Zethrid growled. “Last year, we were all working on our project together, a robot.”

 

“We called it the Sincline,” Ezor added. “It was going to be amazing.”

 

“Then, we got into a disagreement. Ezor, Acxa and I wanted to make it remote controlled, but Lotor wanted it to be all voice commands. He refused to see our side, so he finally snapped.

 

“Lotor left our group, taking the robot and all our research with him. He even deleted our voices from the Sincline’s database. We were all forced to throw together a new project, and it sucked. We got a D.”

 

“My mom was  _ soooo _ pissed,” Ezor recalled.

 

Romelle frowned. “And this broke up your friendship?”

 

Ezor shook her head. “Not just that. Everytime I tried to talk to him, Lotor avoided me. Zethrid and Acxa, too. At one point Acxa cornered him into an argument, so he punched her in the face.”

 

Romelle gasped. “That’s awful!”

 

“Yup,” Zethrid said, “Acxa stopped talking to any of us, after that. I think she only tolerated me and Ezor because of Lotor.”

 

Romelle quirked her head. “So do they both go to this camp, too?”

 

Zethrid grimaced. “Yup. I try to avoid Lotor as much as possible, though. Now that we aren’t close, I finally see how shitty he is. Like, he bullies little kids here.”

 

Ezor nudged her playfully. “Don’t  _ we _ make fun of kids too?”

 

“Yeah, but like, kids  _ our _ age. Younger ones can’t stand up for themselves.”

 

She nodded in agreement, while Romelle stared at the two of them in confusion. Ezor and Zethrid were being friendly, but there was something…  _ off _ . She tried to back out of the conversation.

 

“Um, it was fun chatting with you guys, but I gotta run back to my cabin real quick. See ya, I guess?” She tried to walk past them, but Ezor stepped in her way.

 

“Oh, you’re not getting rid of us  _ that _ easy!” she said blithely. Before Romelle could protest, she and Zethrid linked arms with her and pulled her along down the path. She struggled at first, then just let it happen.

 

When they turned down the path leading to the personal cabins, Zethrid looked at her curiously. “So, which one is yours?” she asked.

 

“Um, 42?”

 

They skidded to a halt, and Ezor looked at Romelle incredulously.

 

“Wait, you’re in a cabin with Allura?”

 

Romelle raised an eyebrow. “Uh, yeah? Is that bad?”

 

Zethrid threw her hands in the air. “Is it bad? That girl is  _ literally _ dating Lotor. Of course it’s bad!”

 

Romelle crossed her arms. “Well, she seemed nice when  _ I  _ talked to her. Maybe she just fell under Lotor’s spell, like you two did.”

 

Zethrid glared at Romelle, like she was going to punch her, so she took a few cautious steps back. However, Ezor held up a hand, and she calmed down quickly.

 

“See, you’re right there.  _ But _ , we tried to warn her, and she just ignored us. So we don’t like Allura. At least, not until she breaks up with that greasy haired loser.”

 

Romelle allowed herself a small smile at ‘greasy haired loser.’ However, she still wanted to defend Allura.

 

“Well, I don’t really know Lotor, so it doesn’t bother me. And, I’d prefer to choose my friends for myself, thanks.”

 

Ezor nodded. “That makes sense. Still, I’d rather  _ not _ see her right now. You walk to your cabin on your own, and we’ll see you later, yeah?”

 

Romelle looked between the two of them. They, besides Allura, were the first people to show any interest in being her friend. Plus, Zethrid helped her out a lot on that rope bridge exercise they had to do together. She smiled warmly.

 

“Yeah, sounds good.”

 

* * *

 

“That’s incredible!”

 

Lotor grinned at Allura’s enthusiasm. “I know, right? It took me ages to program its responses to my voice.”

 

She peered closer at the Sincline robot, tracing her thumb along the wire line. “Amazing.” She frowned thoughtfully, then glanced back up at Lotor. “And your group members didn’t help at all?”

 

He scowled. “Not in the slightest. I asked them to lend me some assistance, but they assured me I could do it all on my own.”

 

She nudged him gently, grinning softly. “Well you did, didn’t you?”

 

He smirked. “Yeah. And when I left them, they got a D on the project they made together. Pathetic, really.”

 

She giggled. “I remember it. Wasn’t it something about pirates?”

 

He shrugged. “Honestly I don’t know.”

 

She laughed even harder, then handed him back the robot. He put it safely away in his bag, and looked back up at Allura fondly. He leaned forward, and she let him. Closing her eyes, she waited as he got closer and closer, and—

 

Somebody cleared their throat. Very loudly.

 

Lotor and Allura lept apart, and she glared up at the figure in the doorway. Seeing it was Romelle, standing awkwardly and looking very uncomfortable, her expression softened.

 

“Romelle! I didn’t realize you were there!” she laughed nervously, and Romelle gave a half-hearted giggle in response. Allura looked back at Lotor, who was still glowering at Romelle. She rested a hand on his arm, then turned to face Romelle again.

 

“I don’t believe you two have met. This is Romelle. And Romelle, this is my boyfriend, Lo—”

 

“Lotor. I know,” Romelle interrupted. Her eyes then widened suddenly, and she slapped a hand over her mouth. Allura raised an eyebrow.

 

“Did you already know him?”

 

Romelle anxiously fiddled with her wristband, looking wildly between the two of them.

 

“Uh, yes, actually… or no. Maybe?”

 

Lotor looked at Romelle with a completely unimpressed look on his face as she tried to explain.

 

“Take your time,” Allura prodded gently.

 

She took a deep breath, exhaling loudly. “What I  _ meant  _ was that I heard about Lotor, and someone told me you were dating him. We haven’t actually met yet.Until now, I mean.”

 

Allura brightened up. “Oh, well I think you two would be great friends!”

 

“I seriously doubt that,” Lotor muttered under his breath. Allura didn’t hear him.

 

Romelle looked unsure. “I- I don’t know. I don’t really mean to intrude on whatever you were doing in here. I just wanted to get some Advil. That rope course gave me a headache.”

 

Allura rolled her eyes. “Oh, I  _ hated _ that at first. As an eleven year old, it was terrifying. You’ll get used to it if you keep going here. But it’s only a mandatory thing once a summer. You don’t have to go up again if you don’t want to.”

 

Romelle visibly sagged with relief. “Oh, thank the stars. I was scared out of my mind. I don’t think I would’ve finished it without help from Zethrid—” She stopped talking and flinched, looking past Allura to Lotor. She glanced back as well, to see Lotor glaring at Romelle furiously. Before Allura could question what happened, Romelle was already sprinting to her bunk and grabbing a bottle of pills.

 

“Well, I gotta go! Have fun making out, or whatever you guys were doing.”

 

And with that, Romelle was gone. Allura was still very confused. She turned to Lotor.

 

“What just happe—”

 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Lotor interrupted rudely. “I have to go.”

 

He grabbed his bag and left suddenly. Allura gaped after him; she’d never seen him be so surly before.

 

* * *

 

Romelle was in Zethrid and Ezor’s cabin. She explained her awkward meeting with Lotor, and they let her in immediately. Their third roommate was promptly kicked out when she mentioned staying overnight. Of course, she planned on returning to cabin 42, but definitely not right now. It was too tense, and Lotor was probably still there. For now, she was sitting cross-legged on Zethrid’s bed, waiting for Bandor to answer her text asking him to visit.

 

When she was about to pick up her phone again to send another text, she heard a knock at the door. Ezor looked at her curiously.

 

“It’s my brother,” she whispered to her. Then, more loudly: “Come in!”

 

The door swung open, and Romelle was tackled into a hug by Bandor.

 

“Romelle!”

 

She beamed. “Hey, bro! How was day three of camp!”

 

He ended the hug and sat back on the bed. “It was great! We got to do this ropes course, which was super fun, and I painted this really cool picture in the crafts cabin!”

 

Zethrid made a face at Romelle that seemed to say ‘ _ Even that little shrimp could do the ropes course _ .’ She ignored her.

 

“Is the picture in your cabin? I’d like to see it.”

 

Bandor’s good mood dissipated, and his face fell. Romelle looked at him, concerned.

 

“What?”

 

She almost couldn’t hear is response, he was so quiet. “I… don’t really have it,” he mumbled. Romelle raised an eyebrow.

 

“Really? Did you throw it out?”

 

He numbly shook his head.

 

“Did you break it?”

 

He didn’t shake his head, but he didn’t nod either. She gasped.

 

“Did… someone  _ else _ break it?” she asked gently. Eyes watering, he slowly nodded.

 

She crossed her arms. “Who was it?” she demanded angrily. He dropped his head.

 

“I don’t want to… he told me not to say,” he mumbled. Romelle glanced back at Ezor and Zethrid, who looked royally pissed off. She looked back at Bandor, still looking terrified. Their words from earlier came back to her.

 

_ “Like, he bullies little kids here… Younger ones can’t stand up for themselves.” _

 

Her face hardened. She placed her hands on Bandor’s shoulders and tilted his head up, looking him straight in the eye.

 

“Was it Lotor?”

 

He let out a whimper, and looked around anxiously, as if Lotor would come out of the woodworks and beat the shit out of him. Romelle had her answer. She pulled Bandor into a hug, and she felt his tears soak the back of her shirt. She looked over at Zethrid and Ezor and gave them a slight nod. They understood immediately.

 

Lotor would pay for what he did to Bandor. And to everyone else he was bullying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, a kinda cliffhanger! Exciting!!!!  
> I really liked this chapter, actually. Writing Zethrid and Ezor was pretty fun. I tried to make them the right amount of both unsettling, but also super friendly. I'm not sure if it worked, but here you go.   
> Please give me some feedback, as I'd really like to improve my writing through posting fics. Thank you for reading!!!


	3. He Had it Coming!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lotor is finally #exposed.... how will Allura react?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be a mess, I didn't proofread it too much.... sorry if there are a lot of typos.

Romelle surveyed the area, searching for a certain greasy-haired loser among all the teenagers. She’d come back to the cabin to find Lotor gone and Allura asleep, so she had begrudgingly fallen asleep as well, planning to find him the next day. She searched for him all morning, to no avail. Lunch time was her best bet. However, looking around, she couldn’t find him at all. He must’ve skipped, or eaten earlier. With a disappointed sigh, Romelle made her way over to where Zethrid and Ezor were sitting, plopping down her tray with a groan.

 

“I can’t believe it! I’ve looked for Lotor all morning, but he’s nowhere! It’s like he’s a- a ghost or something!” she groaned again, and let her head fall onto the table. Ezor looked down at her sympathetically.

 

“Hey, he’ll turn up eventually. You’re already doing better than us, anyway. Zethrid and I never even  _ thought _ about confronting him in front of everyone!”

 

Romelle snorted. “Yeah, because you only think about yourselves.”

 

Ezor hummed thoughtfully. “Well, you’re not wrong.”

 

She smirked, then grabbed her water bottle. As she began chugging it, she saw Lotor out of the corner of her eye and nearly choked. Water dribbled down her chin and she began coughing vehemently. Zethrid shot her an exasperated look.

 

“What happened?” she asked, completely deadpan.

 

As she struggled to breath, Romelle pointed a shaking finger at Lotor, who was now waiting in line for food, tqpping his foot impatiently. Zethrid grinned.

 

“About damn time he showed up! After we eat, you can go follow him out and roast the shit outta him!” she exclaimed. Romelle looked at her questioningly.

 

“Shouldn’t we do it now, though?”

 

Zethrid shook her head. “No way. Right now, I’m eating. And so is everyone else. And when my eating time is interrupted, I get pissed. So, we wait.”

 

Romelle sighed. “Fine, I guess.”

 

Ezor smiled mischievously. “Ooh, this’ll be fun! I’ve been dying to see Lotor get what’s coming for  _ ages _ .” She picked up the bowl of noodles in front of her, but frowned down at them.

 

“Damnit, I forgot a fork!” She pushed her chair back and stood up. “I’ll be right back,” she said, walking away. Romelle called after her.

 

“Wait! Can you get me a napkin, please? I kinda spilled my water and… and she can’t hear me.” She slumped back in her chair and pouted.

 

Zethrid nudged her suddenly. “I need a pen.”

 

She raised an eyebrow. “What? Why?”

 

“Just give me a pen.”

 

She sighed and pulled one out from her pocket, which Zethrid accepted gratefully. She pulled up the sleeve of her shirt and began writing. Romelle looked at her curiously.

 

“What are you doing?” she asked.

 

Zethrid grunted. “Writing to Ezor.”

 

Romelle’s jaw dropped. “Wait— you two are  _ soulmates _ ?!”

 

Zethrid shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s not something I advertise. I always had the feeling Ezor would be a big part if my life, and finding out we had a soul-link just solidified that. But, it’s pretty useful to talk to her, since we can’t use phones.”

 

Romelle nodded in agreement, then looked up at Ezor, who was squinting at her arm. She glanced up to see Romelle watching her, and she made a face. Romelle giggled. Then, with an over-dramatized sigh, Ezor walked over to the napkin dispenser and stared her in the eye as she slowly pulled out three napkins. She came back over and practically threw the napkins at Romelle.

 

“There you go. Was it really necessary to make Zethrid write to me about your stupid napkins?”

 

Romelle grinned as she wiped the water off her face. “Hey, I didn’t even know about the soul-link. Zethrid just did it.”

 

Ezor shot a glare at her, and Zethrid shrugged innocently. She groaned and sat down, finally digging into her noodles.

 

Romelle waited not-so patiently as the three of them ate, only taking her eyes off Lotor to shoot a quick glance at the clock. After what seemed like an eternity, the chatter rose as everyone collectively got up to leave, and she let out an excited whoop.

 

“Finally!”

 

Zethrid rolled her eyes at her. “Jeez, you make it seem like you’ve won the lottery or something,” she mumbled. 

 

Romelle ignored her. She dashed to the trashcan to dump her garbage, then followed the crowd as everyone filed out of the lunch hall. Spotting Lotor as he walked hand in hand with Allura, she took a deep breath. This would be it. The rage that had been stewing towards him all morning would finally be released as she called him out in front of everyone. 

 

She thought of Bandor, terrified of even telling her about Lotor. She thought about all the kids he might’ve taken advantage of, and grinned wickedly when she realized it would come to an end. Lotor would finally pay for his actions.

 

This was sure to be interesting.

 

* * *

 

Everything was going fine. They had just left the lunch hall, and Allura was chatting happily with Lotor. Then, she heard someone call out Lotor’s name, angrily. He glanced back casually only to stiffen suddenly, and Allura looked at him with concern.

 

“Who is it?”

 

He turned back to Allura and schooled his expression into one of relaxation. “Nothing. We should just ignore it.”

 

She nodded, and they continued. Only this time, when the voice called to them, it was much closer. As in, right-behind-them closer. And, Allura recognized it. She turned around to see Romelle, gripping Lotor’s arm tightly to keep him from moving, a fierce scowl on her face.

 

Allura binked. “Romelle? What are you doing?”

 

“I need to talk to Lotor. Only, he’s ignoring me.”

 

She crossed her arms. “Well, it’s probably for good reason, then, isn’t it?”

 

Lotor nodded. “Yes, it is. Now, unhand me!”

 

Her grip tightened. “No,” she said firmly.

 

He growled. “I said, LET GO!”

 

He ripped his arm from her grasp and sent her reeling backwards. As he rubbed his arm, Allura gaped at him. Looking around, he saw a crowd gathering around them, having heard his shout. Lotor groaned.

 

Allura gazed up at him in confusion. “Lotor, what was that? You’re never so aggressive!”

 

He sputtered. “I mean, she wasn’t letting go, so—”

 

“Actually, that’s  _ very _ in character for him, Allura. You just don’t notice because of all his lies!” Romelle was standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at Lotor bitterly.

 

Allura saw Lotor’s eyes narrow. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but—”

 

Romelle raised a hand. “Shush! I’m not done yet!” She turned to face the other campers.

 

“Lotor may seem nice to most people, but he’s waayy different when you get on his bad side. He’s been mocking and picking on the younger kids at camp here for ages! Only you don’t know, because they’re too terrified of his retaliation that they never tell anyone.

 

“My brother and I have been here for four days, and already has Lotor degraded him, destroyed his artwork, and scared him to the point of tears when I even mentioned his name! Does  _ that _ seem like something a nice person would do?”

 

Murmurs rose up from the crowd. Allura looked at Lotor, bewildered. She took a step back from him, dropping his hand.

 

“Is this true?” she asked. He frantically shook his head.

 

“No! Of course not! She’s just lying because- because…”

 

Romelle smirked. “See? You don’t even have an excuse. Just admit the truth.”

 

He glowered at her. “The truth is that you have no proof! Because I didn’t do those things!”

 

“Actually, I do.” As Lotor watched in confusion, she faced the growing crowd of people. “Lotor thinks we have no proof! But we do! In this crowd of people, I guarantee that at least some of you have been bullied by Lotor. Do I hear any protests?”

 

Everyone fell silent. Allura looked around desperately, hoping for someone to shout out that Romelle was lying. She didn’t want to believe that Lotor was lying to them— she  _ couldn’t _ . Ten seconds passed. A small figure, shaking like a leaf, pushed through the crowd into the middle. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Allura recognized him as Romelle’s brother.

 

“She— she’s right about Lotor.” Astonished whispers rose up, mostly from the older campers. The ones Bandor’s age didn’t seem as surprised.

 

Lotor shot him a deathly glare. “Oh really? What did I do,  _ Bandor _ ?” He spat out his name with such hate, Bandor visibly wilted under his gaze.

 

“Uh, sorry, I- I mean… I was, uh…” He started to back away, but Romelle stopped him.

 

“Go on, Bandor. Lotor won’t hurt you.” She shot him an encouraging grin, and he stood up straighter.

 

His voice rang out confidently. “I made a picture in the arts and crafts cabin. I was really proud of it. Lotor came over to look at it, and I thought he was gonna compliment it. Instead, he dumped a jar of black paint on it and threw it in the trash can.”

 

Allura gasped and looked at Lotor, who had gone very pale and very silent.  _ He’s not denying it, _ she thought, horrified.

 

Seemingly inspired by Bandor, more kids stepped up and described the ways Lotor had mocked them and made them feel awful. One common thread— Lotor threatened them to not tell anyone.

 

It was a small group of kids— only about five or six brave enough to confess, but Allura knew enough. She whirled on Lotor.

 

“Well?” she asked, crossing her arms, “What do you have to say for yourself?” She tried to keep her voice steady, but it still wavered.

 

He reached a hand toward her. “Allura…”

 

She stepped out of his reach. “Don’t ‘Allura’ me! Why would you do that? You- you  _ lied _ to me! Is this the only thing you’ve lied about?”

 

He moved closer and took her hand. “Allura, please. I am truly, truly sorry for this all. I can explain why this all happened, I promise.”

 

His voice might have sounded earnest, but Allura knew him too well. It was the same voice he had used when he told her he would never hurt anyone, that he cared for others. Her jaw clenched.

 

“Get  _ off _ me!” she cried, wrenching her hand from his grasp.  He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say a word, Allura wound back and punched him square in the jaw. He fell to the ground, and a few people cheered. Turning heel, she stomped away from him.

 

“Allura, wait!”

 

Not even bothering to stop walking, she called over her shoulder. “And if it wasn’t clear already, I’m breaking up with you.”

 

She hoped she got away fast enough so no one saw her tears.

 

* * *

 

Romelle had watched in silence while Allura and Lotor argued. When she punched Lotor in the jaw, Romelle cheered along with the kids who were bullied (plus Zethrid and Ezor). Overall, it was nice to see Lotor get his comeuppance. However, seeing Allura push through the crowd and ignore the wellwishers, tears streaming down her face, Romelle felt a stab of sympathy.

 

Not only did Allura find out her boyfriend was a sadistic bully who lied to her throughout their relationship, but their breakup was very public, too. She was about to follow Allura, when a hand clapped on her shoulder from behind.

 

“Hey, nice job! Now, this entire camp will know how much of an asshole Lotor is!”

 

Romelle turned around and smiled half-heartedly at Ezor. “Uh, thanks!”

 

She must have noticed her discomfort. Narrowing her eyes, she leaned forward and peered at Romelle’s face.

 

“Are you okay? You seem off.”

 

Romelle sighed. “I don’t know. I just kinda feel bad for Allura, I guess? I mean, Lotor was her  _ boyfriend _ …”

 

Ezor shrugged. “Hey, everyone deals with bad breakups. She’ll feel better eventually.”

 

Romelle glanced longingly over her shoulder to where Allura disappeared. Ezor smiled knowingly.

 

“You want to go talk to her?”

 

Romelle chuckled weakly. “Actually, yeah.”

 

Ezor stepped back and held up her hands. “Hey, I’m not stopping you. I can tell the counselor you were sick and couldn’t make it to the volleyball court. Go chase Cinderella.”

 

She nodded and dashed off to the woods, scanning the area around her. Allura was nowhere to be seen.

 

_ Of course you can’t find her, _ she thought,  _ she’s probably gone to some secret hiding spot only she knows about. There’s no chance of finding her here. _

 

Romelle didn’t want to give up. With grim determination, she scoured the woods, lightly stepping over branches and thistles. Time flew quickly, and she missed not only her group’s volleyball game, but all the group activities for the day. 

 

The sun was about to set when she arrived at the edge of the lake. Careful to avoid the muddy patches, she crept along, softly calling Allura’s name. She was about to give up, when she heard a loud sniffle coming from a bush patch.

 

Curiously, she stepped over to the bush and examined it closely. She’d originally avoided it, as it hugged the edge of the water and seemed impossible to push her way through. Now, she swept aside the branches and let out a gasp.

 

A small enclosed area, lined with rocks and opening out onto the lake. And, sitting in the middle, hugging her knees to her chest, was Allura.

 

Romelle cleared her throat, and Allura’s head snapped up. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and eyeliner was dribbling down her cheeks.

 

“Can I come in?” she asked.

 

Allura scooted over to allow her room. “Might as well,” she sniffled.

 

Romelle tried to step over the roots, but her foot caught and she fell on her face with a yelp. Allura snorted.

 

“Heh. I did that the first time I found this place, too.”

 

She picked her face up from the ground and smiled at Allura, but she was already back to picking at grass morosely. Romelle rose into a sitting position, and faced the water like Allura.

 

“So, when did you find this place? It’s pretty secluded. Took me a while to get here.”

 

Allura smiled wistfully. “I believe I was thirteen, actually. I remember, I was canoeing on the lake when I fell in, far from the shore. I paddled in as fast as I could, and I came up here. It took ages to get back to camp, since I was so lost, but I remembered where this was. I come here when I want some alone time to think.”

 

Romelle winced. “Oh, should I not have come?”

 

Allura looked up at her. “No no, please stay! It’s nice to have someone with me.”

 

Romelle dipped her head in response, and sat cross-legged next to Allura. They sat in silence, watching the water ripple as kids paddled along in boats in the distance, shouting in excitement.  _ They ought to be going in soon _ , Romelle thought,  _ The sun is literally setting right now. _

 

_ Oh, maybe  _ we _ should get back soon, too. _

 

She didn’t say anything though. She waited, trying to enjoy the peacefulness while subtly watching Allura out of the corner of her eye.

 

Allura was the one who broke the silence.

 

“Why did you come looking for me?” She glanced at Romelle curiously, the tears having finally dried up.

 

Romelle shrugged. “I don’t know, I kinda felt bad for you. I exposed Lotor in front of everyone, and he was your boyfriend.” She sighed and leaned back. “Now I’m thinking maybe it wasn’t the best idea.”

 

“No!” Allura placed a hand on her knee. “You shouldn’t apologize for telling the truth. Lotor was being horrible, and no one was going to stop him.  _ You _ did.”

 

Romelle chuckled darkly. “Maybe. But I should have thought about how it would affect you.”

 

Allura shook her head dejectedly. “I only have myself to blame. I believed what Lotor told me, even when he wasn’t honest. I never stopped to wonder if he was lying.”

 

Romelle gaped at her. “Are you kidding? He fooled everyone!”

 

Allura smirked. “I’m not sure you’re the best one to tell me this. You’ve been here for four days, and you’ve already called him on his bullshit.”

 

“Well, that’s  _ why _ I figured out what he was doing. You’ve spent enough time knowing Lotor for him to gain your trust, while my only experiences with him are Zethrid and Ezor complaining about him, that awkward conversation in the cabin, and finding out he was bullying my brother.”

 

Allura tilted her head thoughtfully. “I guess you’re right.”

 

“Of course I am!”

 

She burst into a fit of giggles, then turned to face Romelle. Getting up onto her knees, she crawled over and enveloped her in a big hug, burying her head in her shoulder.

 

“Thank you, Romelle. It’s great to have someone else to talk to about this.” 

 

Romelle grinned tenderly. “Hey, no problem. You’re my friend, right? This is what friends do for each other?”

 

Allura leaned back and examined Romelle’s face. She smiled softly.

 

“Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -the chapters just keep getting longer and longer-
> 
> Yay, Lotor is finally out of the picture! To be honest, I'm actually indifferent to him in the show. Yea, this might seem like I hate him, but I upped his dislikeableness for plot. Now, there will finally be some good Romelle/Allura interactions!
> 
> Next chapter, I'm planning for their soul-links to come into play. We'll see how that goes....(dramatic trail-off)


	4. Soul-Links are for Cute Messages, NOT Drawing Dicks, Romelle!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I feel as if the title is summary enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, chapter 4!!! This is a big chapter, so make sure to read to the end. It's got a lot of characterization, plus some more info about the soul-links and how they're used. And, it explains something people complained about it the sequel fic to this!

“So, Romelle.”

 

She looked up at Allura from her book with an amused expression. “Yes?”

 

“You said you went to a different camp before this year, right?”

 

She nodded slowly. “Yes.”

 

“Why’d you switch camps then?”

 

Romelle rested her back on the wall behind her bed. “You remember Camp Daibazaal?”

 

Allura raised an eyebrow. “You mean the one that burned down?”

 

She sighed. “That’s the one. I used to go there. Then, well, you know.”

 

She giggled softly. “So, your camp burned down, and you came to this one?”

 

She made a face. “It’s a bit more complicated than that. A lot of the kids— including me— had prepaid for multiple years, and with the fire, those kinda went to waste. The camp board closed the camp, and used the funds we gave them to send us to other camps. Now, I’m here.”

 

Allura grinned. “That must’ve been weird.”

 

“Yup. But I’m glad, kinda. I mean, Altea is great.”

 

“Of course, I’m here.”

 

Romelle shriveled her nose up, and threw a pillow at Allura while she giggled. Before it could dissolve into a full on pillow fight, a sharp knock sounded at the door, causing them to stop.

 

Allura raised an eyebrow. “Who is tha—”

 

Another knock cut off Allura, this time much heavier and louder. Romelle sighed in exasperation.

 

“You don’t  _ both _ have to knock! Just come in already!”

 

The door opened, and Zethrid and Ezor bounded in, both grinning wildly.

 

“Hey, Romelle!” Ezor called. She dipped her head in Allura’s direction, who still had a confused look on her face. “Allura.”

 

She raised an eyebrow. “Uh, what are you two doing here? No offense, of course.”

 

Zethrid wrapped Romelle in a headlock and pulled her into a weird combination of a chokehold and a hug. Her eyes bugged out. “Romelle invited us! We were the ones who told her all about Lotor!”

 

Allura’s face fell. “Oh. You tried to warn me too, right? I’m sorry I didn’t listen.”

 

Ezor put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Hey, no worries. It’s pretty hard to pick up on how much Lotor sucks without someone telling you. We only figured it out because of our science project.”

 

“Oh, Lotor told me about that!”

 

Ezor’s expression brightened, and she leaned closer to Allura curiously. “What did he tell you?” she asked.

 

She hummed thoughtfully. “I believe he said that his groupmates— e.i. you two— refused to do any work, so he left the group.”

 

Zethrid snorted. “That’s not even close to the truth. What a loser!”

 

Allura quirked her head. “What really happened, then?”

 

Ezor giggled. “The opposite, really. He disagreed with us on how to set the controls for the Sincline, so he stole the work and left the group. We had no proof he stole it though, so we had to make our own project.”

 

Allura wrinkled her nose distastefully. “That seems a little petty, don’t you think?”

 

Ezor placed a hand over her mouth in shock. “My god, you’ve done it!”

 

Allura looked confused. “What?”

 

“You’ve managed to describe Lotor’s entire personality in only one sentence!”

 

All four girls burst out laughing, so hard that they didn’t hear the fervent knocking at the door. But it swung open, and the loud bang made them all stop and stare at the figure in the doorway.

 

Bandor, eyes gleaming excitedly, ran over to Romelle.

 

“It’s happened! It finally happened!” He enveloped Romelle in a big hug, sending her flying against the backboard of her bed. She groaned loudly.

 

“What is it, Bandor?”

 

“My soul-link finally opened!”

 

She sat up, interested. “Really?!” She sounded surprised.

 

“Yeah! I was doodling in my notebook with a red pen on my bed, when some black ink marks appeared on my arm! So I wrote hi, and someone actually responded!   
  


Bandor thrust his arm into her face, and her jaw dropped. With a squeal, she tugged Bandor into another hug.

 

Allura sighed wistfully. Romelle and Bandor’s sibling bond was incredible, in her eyes. His telling her about his soulmate made her look so happy… 

 

Ezor cleared her throat. “Hate to but into this adorable moment, but why’s that so exciting?”

 

Romelle finally drew her attention away from Bandor to address them. “Bandor’s been waiting for  _ ages _ to get his soulmark. He was really excited to talk to them, so it’s a pretty special moment for him.”

 

Bandor interrupted. “Plus, it finally means I’ve hit puberty!”

 

She chuckled and ruffled his hair. “About damn time, too.”

 

Ezor smiled nostalgically. “I remember when I first asked my mom about my soul-link. I asked when it would happen, and she told me this rhyme: ‘When the blood falls, your soulmate calls.’ I didn’t understand until I first got my period, and a day later, Zethrid’s drawing of her choking her teacher appeared on my arm.”

 

Allura, Romelle, and Bandor gave Ezor looks of unease, and collectively leaned away; Zethrid merely smiled and kissed her cheek fondly.

 

Romelle coughed awkwardly, then turned back to Bandor. “Now, since I’m your big sister, it’s my obligatory right to send a message to your soulmate now.”

 

Bandor’s eyes widened. “Wha- what?!”

 

She nodded seriously. “It’s a tradition. Of course, you wouldn’t know about it, being the youngest… “ 

 

She trailed off, then looked to Allura for support. Despite knowing it was a lie, she nodded as well.

 

“It really is a tradition, Bandor. You have to let her do this.”

 

He sighed. “Fine, I guess.”

 

Bandor closed his eyes, and Romelle frantically looked around for a pen. Ezor, grinning mischievously, tossed over a permanent marker. Allura covered her mouth to contain giggles as Romelle drew on Bandor’s face with a concentrated look on her face.

 

Bandor inhaled sharply when he felt the marker on his face. “Are you sure that’s the best place to—”

 

“Shh!” she commanded, “You’ll mess up my writing by speaking!”

 

He fell into an uneasy silence, trying not to squirm as Romelle drew. Finally, she stepped back, satisfied.

 

“It’s done!”

 

Bandor opened his eyes. “Okay? What did you write?”

 

She smiled mysteriously. “It’s a surprise.”

 

He was about to say something, but he stopped, lifting his arm and squinting at it dubiously. He gasped, and Allura leaned over to see what his soulmate said.

 

_ What the fuck is on my face?!!!!!! _

 

Frantically, Bandor rushed to the vanity and let out a high pitched scream. The girls all started laughing again.

 

“You drew a  _ dick _ on my face, Romelle! Why!?”

 

Clutching her stomach, Romelle tried to catch her breath enough to respond.

 

“Sorry, bro. Saw the opportunity and…” she paused as another fit of giggles overtook her. “I just  _ had  _ to do it.”

 

He fumbled for a pen in his pocket and began writing furiously to his soulmate. Allura caught glimpses of the words  _ sister _ and  _ tricked _ in his apology paragraph.

 

Groaning, he glared at Romelle. “I can’t believe this. I  _ hate _ you!”

 

She smirked. “Sorry. Too late to change it now, though, right?”

 

He blew a raspberry at her, then stalked out of the cabin. Romelle seemed completely unperturbed by his declaration of hatred.

 

Allura learned another thing about siblings that day.

 

* * *

 

Zethrid and Ezor were gone, and Romelle was tucked under her covers already, but Allura still laid awake. Bandor’s soul-link had opened, and the first thing he wanted to do was talk to his soulmate. A little different from the norm, really. Allura wanted to meet her soulmate, but she’d never actually talked to them. As her mother explained, it was the standard to wait. She would wait, as well.

 

She thought about her friends at school. Pidge didn’t have one since she was aromantic, but Lance was always waiting to meet his. He refused to talk too much before meeting them, insisting on ‘waiting for it to happen naturally.’ Allura suspected it was because Veronica did that, too.

 

She fingered the pink heart on her wrist, now almost faded, thoughtfully. Why did she wait? Sighing, Allura turned to face Romelle’s bed.

 

“Hey, you awake?”

 

She heard a groan. “Of course I am! I thought you were asleep, though.”

 

Allura giggled softly. “Same here. I kinda want to ask you something.”

 

Romelle’s blankets shifted, and Allura saw her face pop out from underneath them.

 

“Yeah?”

 

She rubbed her wrist anxiously. “Do you ever talk to your soulmate?”

 

Romelle blinked slowly. “Uh, not really, actually. I don’t think I’ve ever had a real conversation with her.”

 

Allura nodded in agreement. “Same. I just draw stuff sometimes. But I was thinking— what if I talk to them?”

 

Romelle yawned loudly. “Why not? They’re your soulmate, it’s not like they’re gonna think it’s weird.”

 

Allura chewed her lip. “But shouldn't I wait to meet them naturally?”

 

She snorted. “Naturally? There’s nothing ‘natural’ about soul-links! They’re really weird, so you gotta approach them in a really weird way, ya know?”

 

Allura giggled. “Hey, that actually made a little bit of sense.”

 

“Gee, thanks.”

 

She ignored the remark. “Maybe you should talk to yours, too. We can do it tomorrow!”

 

Romelle smirked. “Why tomorrow?”

 

Allura shrugged beneath her covers. “I don’t know. You only live once, right? Seize the moment, live your life, find your soulmate— do it quickly, ‘cause you don’t know when it will end.”

 

Romelle grinned teasingly. “I never saw you as a risk-taker, Allura. I thought you’d be the kind of person to rat your classmates out for chewing gum.”

 

She scoffed and threw a pillow in her direction, but it fell short and landed on the floor between their beds.

 

“Just go to sleep, Romelle. Then, in the morning, we talk to our soulmates.”

 

Romelle gave her a sleepy thumbs up. “Got it.”

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Allura woke up and drew a heart on, as usual. It was a weekend, so there were no morning activities. She had slept in. Romelle, however, was already gone.

 

_Strange_ , she thought. Every morning in the past week they’ve shared a cabin, Allura woke up to see Romelle sprawled across her bed, snoring peacefully. She normally shook her awake for activities. Now, the bedsheets were already thrown aside when Allura left the cabin.

 

Coming into the breakfast hall, she looked around for Zethrid and Ezor (and hopefullly Romelle). She usually sat with Lotor and his friends, but that was obviously out of the question. She saw them at a table near the corner, and made her way over.

 

“Mind if I sit here?” she asked. Ezor shrugged, so she took it as a yes. Setting down her tray, she looked around curiously.

 

“Do you two know where Romelle is?”

 

Zethrid shook her head. “She was eating when we got here, but she finished quickly and left. Said something about sending a personal message.”

 

Allura understood. “Oh! She must be talking about her soul-link!”

 

Ezor raised an eyebrow. “What’s she doing with— you know what, I don’t even care.”

 

Allura scoffed at her, then bustled to the food line to get breakfast. She came back and ate in silence, making no attempts to make conversation with the others. Without Romelle as a buffer, it was a bit awkward with them.

 

She finished and quickly stood up, bidding Zethrid and Ezor goodbye and tossing her trash. She came back to the cabin and pulled out a pen, ready to write to her soulmate, when something made her stop.

 

The pink heart she drew every day, without fail, now had an outline, drawn on in a pretty purple color. Her soulmate drew it, without any prompt from Allura. She tensed up, trying to calm her nerves. Then, with a sharp inhale, she wrote a message of her own.

 

_ That’s new. _

 

The reply came almost instantaneously.

 

Haha, yea. I figured I should draw something to you.

 

A pause.

 

_ You draw that heart like, everyday anyway. You cool with it? _

 

_ Of course! It looks lovely. _

 

:D

 

Allura found herself smiling unconsciously. She didn’t know why so many people avoided using their soul-link when it was this fun.

 

_ I was actually gonna talk to you today, anyway _

 

Oh?

 

_ Yea, we don’t rlly talk. Thought that should change _

 

!!!!Omg same!!!

 

It’s like we can read each other’s thoughts, haha

 

_ Lol, yea. _

 

The conversation lulled, and Allura found herself getting anxious. She had no clue what to say. Luckily, her soulmate did.

 

U know what we should do?

 

_? _

 

We should give each other our #s! Ya know, so we don’t get ink poisoning.

 

_ That’s probably actually why ppl don’t normally use their soul-link. _

 

Texting?

 

She giggled.

 

_ No, ink poisoning. _

 

Ohhhhhh that makes sense.

 

Still wanna exchange numbers?

 

_ Duh. _

 

Her soulmate’s phone number appeared on her arm, and she grinned excitedly as she typed it into her phone. This was the first time talking with her soulmate, ever, and they were already becoming fast friends.

 

Number properly put in, she sent out the first text.

 

_ Hello? _

 

Is this my soulmate??? Plz say yes, that’d be awkward.

 

_ It’s your soulmate. _

 

YAYAYAYAY

 

Allura stifled a giggle.

 

_ So, what do we talk about? _

 

[Image sent]

 

Frowning, Allura squinted at what her soulmate sent. She groaned.

 

_ Is that a fcking meme? _

 

Yup! It’s a good icebreaker, don’t ya think?

 

_ Actually, yea.  _

 

_ That’s a super old meme tho, btw. _

 

>:ooo

 

Im offended.

 

_ Trust me, it’s old. Half my friends are memers. _

 

Wow, lucky. All my friends are really productive and cool

 

_ Sounds boring. Productive friends always make you seem totally unorganized. _

 

Ya, that’s something I’ve noticed.

 

They’ve all either moved or transferred schools, tho. Nobody to hang out with now :(

 

_ Just transfer to my school. We’ll sit together at lunch everyday. _

 

Haha, sounds like a plan.

 

Allura’s smile widened. She was about to type a response when her phone buzzed with a new text. It was from Pidge.

 

**How was the first week at camp?**

 

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

 

_ Since when do you care? _

 

**I’m hurt, really.**

 

**But if you must know, my dad told me I had to hang out with my friends more this summer. That requires texting you at ur camp.**

 

_ Not surprised. _

 

**You shouldn’t be.**

 

**Wat r u doing right now???**

 

_ Talking w/ my soulmate. _

 

**:OOOOOOO**

 

**Waaaaaat**

 

_ Yea, thought I might as well talk to them through my soul-link. YOLO, right? _

 

**Never say that again.**

 

**But, ur still right. If I had a soulmate, I’d start talking to them now.**

 

_ Just talk to Matt’s then. _

 

**Lol, sure**

 

_But I'm kinda busy right now, so go away._

 

 **K, guess I'll bother Hunk** then...

 

_Plz do._

 

Her phone buzzed again, this time from her soulmate.

 

Hey, what do you want me to put you as in my contacts? Adding ur number now.

 

Allura chewed her lip, searching for a good name to give her soulmate. Then, it came to her.

 

_ Put me in as Princess. _

 

Wow, self-centered much??

 

_ No, that’s the nickname my uncle gave me as a kid. I never tell anyone about it, tho _

 

I feel special.

 

_ And what about you? _

 

Hmmmmm…..

 

Put me as Duchess.

 

Keeping w/ the royalty theme, ya know?

 

_ It works. _

 

She typed in ‘Duchess’ as the contact and saved it. She sighed and hugged her phone close to her chest. She couldn’t get over their conversation. She reopened it to continue talking, but footsteps outside made her pause. They belonged to Romelle, and she preferred to talk with her soulmate in private. She sent one last message.

 

_ Hey, talk later, yeah? _

 

Yeah!!!!

 

She closed out of iMessage just as the door opened, and Romelle came in with a huge grin on her face. Before Allura could say anything, she already came over and enveloped her in a hug.

 

“Allura, I did it! Me and my soulmate finally had a conversation!”

 

She squealed excitedly. “Same! How’d it go?”

 

Romelle sat back and pulled up her sleeve. Allura felt a sinking feeling in her stomach when she saw her wrist, but Romelle was already talking.

 

“So she always draws this cute little heart on my wrist, right? And I added a purple outline today. She sent me a message, then we talked for a bit, and I got her number! Isn’t that cool?”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Allura said faintly, unable to comprehend what was happening. The heart. It perfectly matched the one on her own wrist. And, Romelle’s story matched up perfectly. It wasn’t possible.

 

“How’d it go for you?” she asked. Allura snapped out of her haze.

 

“Oh! I talked to… them, and we exchanged numbers as well. We agreed to chat some other time.”

 

Romelle squealed, and pulled Allura into another hug. 

 

"This is so exciting!"

 

"Haha, yeah," Allura said dazedly. She still was trying to figure it all out.

 

Should she tell Romelle? No, definitely no. Romelle might not believe her, and she wanted to do this in a different way. With the pink heart, Allura always expected to see her soulmate with a matching one, then show them her own, and they’d hug and fall in love instantly. (Technically, they  _ did _ hug.)

 

Now, she realized that wasn’t that realistic. Now, she wanted to get to know Romelle more. Later in their time at camp, she would reveal it to her.

 

But now? Now wasn’t the right time. It wouldn’t be the right time for a while.

 

She would wait to tell Romelle she was her soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has a LOT of dramatic irony in it. Feel free to find it all yourself.  
> I enjoyed this chapter a lot. Bandor and Romelle's sibling relationship got some more development, and I think that's the most sibling thing I've ever written, ever. And I've written interactions between Matt and Pidge.  
> You're probably wondering why Pidge randomly texted Allura this chapter. Well, next chapter's gonna start with Allura seeking advice from someone, and she was a good candidate. It might also cause her motivations in my other fic...


	5. Pining, Ft. Overalls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been trying to post on either Mondays or the weekend, but that obviously didn't happen. But, IN MY DEFENSE, the dialogue I had written on Monday was super boring and stiff and I didn't like it. This time around, it's slightly better, so I'm happy w/ it.

Allura couldn’t stop watching Romelle.

 

It’s not like she was watching her in a  _ weird _ way. She just… couldn’t focus on much else when she was in the room. Allura had an excuse, obviously. It wasn’t every day you found the very person you shared a soul-link with.

 

Zethrid and Ezor seemed to pick up on it, too. The first time they caught her glancing at Romelle, they grinned smugly and exchanged knowing looks. She tried to ignore them, staring down at her wrists (covered in bracelets) instead.

 

After they began using their soul-link, Romelle began to complete the pink heart Allura drew with her own purple outline. Something told her she’d be doing it more often.

 

Now, Allura took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she thought everything over. She needed advice, preferably from someone with no bias. Zethrid and Ezor were obviously out. But she did know one person to go to… 

 

She glanced around furtively to make sure no counselor would see her, then pulled out her phone, opening iMessage. She clicked on the second most recent conversation.

 

_ I need some advice. _

 

Slipping the phone back into her pocket, Allura continued her walk to lunch. At the corner table, Romelle was already waiting, chatting happily with Ezor. She went through the lunch line before joining them.

 

“Hey!” she said, setting down her tray. Romelle grinned at her enthusiastically, while Ezor gave a bored wave. 

 

“Allura! We were just talking about that nature trail my group did today. The dude leading us slipped in mud and fell all the way down the hill!”

 

She snorted. “Please tell me someone took a picture.”

 

Romelle smiled mischievously. “Better. One girl was filming the entire hike for some camp vlog she was doing. It’s all caught on camera!”

 

She leaned over to Allura, opening up her phone to show her. Allura noticed her hair was pulled up in a loose bun, a few wisps slipping out of the ponytail holder. She had a purple tank top on and her wristband was off, proudly showing off the heart on her wrist. It made a warm feeling blossom in Allura’s chest seeing it.

 

_ She’s wearing her heart on her sleeve, literally, _  she thought dryly. 

 

She laughed at the video with Romelle, watching as their guide misstepped and flew down the hill, getting covered in mud. Her phone buzzed when the video ended, causing her to tense up in her seat. As Romelle sat back in her own seat, tapping away on her phone, Allura pulled out her own eagerly. There was a reply.

 

**You want advice???? From me????**

 

**What timeline is this**

 

Allura rolled her eyes. Pidge was always far more sarcastic when she was texting.

 

_ It’s about romance. _

 

**Then why tf are you asking me for**

 

**I should be the last person you go to.**

 

A pause.

 

**Wait, am I?**

 

_ I just thought you’d be best equipped to help me. You think about this stuff in the most logical way. _

 

**Inaccurate, but continue**

 

_ OKAY SO, _

 

**Oh geez.**

 

_ You know how I was talking to my sm? _

 

**Sm??**

 

_ Soulmate. _

 

**Oh ya, ok**

 

_ Well, I found out it’s the girl I share a cabin with _

 

**WTF????**

 

**What romantic comedy is this**

 

She chuckled lightly. The other girls at her table looked up in confusion.

 

Zethrid narrowed her eyes. “What are you laughing at?” 

 

Allura shrugged her off. “My friend just sent me something funny. Inside joke.”

 

She went back to her messages.

 

_ I haven’t told her yet, though. _

 

**Y not??**

 

**I thought finding your soulmate was the peak of existence for all you romantics.**

 

_ Nah, that’s just some weird fanfiction trope. _

 

_ But I wanted to get to know her before dropping the soulmate bomb. _

 

_ Fall in love the good ol fashioned way, yea? _

 

**It kinda makes sense?????**

 

**But if you don’t wanna tell her, don’t tell her then**

 

**Idk what else to tell you**

 

_ But what if she finds out and gets mad at me for not telling her? _

 

**Then explain to her what happened.**

 

**Show her this convo**

 

_ K, that works _

 

_ But also she’s rlly pretty and I keep seeing that heart I draw on her wrist and I might die soon _

 

**Wat do you want me to play at ur funeral then??**

 

_ God is a Woman, obvi _

 

**Despacito, got it**

 

**But seriously, can’t you just tell her she’s pretty????**

 

_ Pidge, you don’t understand _

 

**Why?**

 

_ I cAN’T _

 

**Of course, I forgot ur a disaster w/ pining**

 

**We all remember when u and Lotor first met**

 

_ You can’t talk about Lotor anymore _

 

_ He’s an asshole, and we broke up _

 

**!!!!!**

 

**WHY HAVE YOU WITHHELD THIS INFORMATION FROM ME**

 

**I NEED DETAILS**

 

Allura wrote out a brief summary of the story to Pidge. When she glanced up from her phone, Romelle was staring at her.

 

She jumped. “Oh! Uh, yes, Romelle?”

 

“Allura. Lunch is over. We’re supposed to leave now,” she said, smirking slightly.

 

Allura quickly put her phone away. “Yes, right. Where are you going now?”

 

She shrugged. “Not sure yet. You?”

 

Allura tilted her head thoughtfully. “I was actually thinking about going to the arts and crafts cabin. I promised my uncle I’d paint him something before I left.”

 

Romelle beamed. “Great! We should go together!”

 

When Allura had gathered up her stuff and thrown out her trash, Romelle came up behind her and linked their arms together. They walked out of the lunchroom and headed to the arts and crafts cabin.

 

* * *

 

Romelle was holding hands with Allura.

 

Not _really_ holding hands with her. They just had their arms linked. But it was enough. She felt a warmth spread through her body from where their arms touched. It was good.

 

When they first met, it was really awkward between the two of them. Allura was nice to her, definitely, but it was more like when you’re grouped with someone you don’t know for a project, so you have to play nice for a good grade. Now, after the whole Lotor drama, they had grown a lot closer. Romelle knew a lot more about her, and they were far more comfortable with each other. She was even developing a bit of a crush on her.

 

But there was also her soulmate. They’d only just talked the other day, and Romelle already liked her. (Assuming her soulmate was a her.) But they probably wouldn’t meet for a while. For now, Romelle decided she would just enjoy her time with Allura.

 

Allura soon came to a stop, and Romelle looked at her curiously.

 

“What?”

 

She rolled her eyes at her, smiling, then pointed ahead at where they stopped. “We’re already at the arts and crafts cabin, Romelle.”

 

She giggled. “Oh, right.”

 

They walked in, and Romelle blinked in surprise. It was the first time she’d been here. The cabin was wide and well-lit, rows of tables with art supplies scattered about. If she squinted, Romelle could see some organization in the placement.

 

Allura led them over to a table laden with paints and bins containing canvas papers. She took one of them and sat down, already beginning to sketch something out. Romelle stood behind her, shifting awkwardly. Allura caught her eye and frowned sympathetically.

 

She scooted over, patting the seat next to her. “Here, paint with me.”

 

She gratefully sat down with Allura and watched over her shoulder as she sketched out the interior of what seemed to be a coffee shop. She nudged her curiously.

 

“What are you drawing there?”

 

Allura glanced up at her, then back down at the sketch. “This is my uncle’s cafe. I thought he’d appreciate a picture of it, even if I’m not great at drawing,” she replied, smiling warmly.

 

Romelle pouted. “I’m sure you’re amazing!”

 

Allura snorted. “Yeah, right,” she said, pulling out her phone. She showed her a picture of the real cafe. The drawing looked far worse. 

 

Romelle winced. “I guess you  _ are _ right…”

 

Allura scowled at her indignantly. Dipping her finger into a paint pot, she flicked a drop of pink paint right at Romelle’s nose. It hit its mark perfectly. 

 

Slowly lifting up her hand, she wiped it off, leaving a smudge still on her nose. Allura burst into a fit of giggles, and she raised her eyebrows.

 

“Oh, so you’re going there?”

 

She grabbed the nearest paint jar and, dunking a paintbrush in, fired a spray of droplets at Allura’s face. The blue stood out brilliantly against her skin. Allura wrinkled her nose at the smell.

 

“Are you kidding me, Romelle? This stuff smells awful!” 

 

She sniggered. "Maybe you should have thought about that before you threw it on my nose!"

 

Allura sighed, picking up a jar. “Very well, then. Game on!”

 

Before she could react, Allura lobbed a handful of paint at Romelle, who let out a shriek of laughter when it hit her neck. She responded by lunging forward with her jar, sending paint spilling down Allura’s shirt and staining her plain white tee. A glob of red paint ruined Romelle’s shirt, as well.

 

Back and forth, paint flung between them, splattering all over the seats and brushes. Soon, they were completely out of paint. The other kids working on projects looked at them strangely.

 

Romelle let out a nervous giggle, glancing around worriedly. “Everyone is staring at us. Will we get in trouble now?”

 

Allura waved her off. “We’ll be okay, Romelle. I’m sure campers make paint messes all the time here.”

 

Romelle smiled with relief, then wiped the paint rolling down her forehead. She looked down at her hand to see it painted a dark purple, the result of all the colors she had thrown. She glanced over to see Allura’s hand stained with reds and pinks. She grimaced when she saw her bracelets, soaked through.

 

Allura followed her gaze, wincing upon seeing them. “Guess I need new ones, then.”

 

Romelle reached under the table and ripped off a paper towel from the roll. She offered it to Allura, who smirked slightly.

 

“I think we’re going to need a bit more paper towels than this, Romelle.”

 

They shared a laugh, and Romelle reached under the table to pull out the entire roll. They mopped the paint off their faces, then hastily wiped down the table. Romelle stared dejectedly at the stains they spilled on the wood and groaned.

 

“There’s no way we’re getting _that_ off!” she sighed, plopping down on the bench.

 

Allura sat down next to Romelle and placed a hand on her shoulder. “That table always has paint on it. Believe me, the counselors _won’t_ notice.”

 

She nodded. “You’re right,” she replied. She glanced down at Allura’s hand, seeing that she was still wearing her bracelets. She turned to face her, grabbing her wrist to examine it. Allura tensed.

 

“You should probably remove these soon and rinse them off. They might be stained forever otherwise,” Romelle said, pointing to the bracelets.

 

Allura gently slipped her hand out of her grasp. She smiled stiffly.

 

“Oh, yes. You’re right. I’ll take them off before my shower.”

 

Romelle squinted at her suspiciously, hiding a grin. “What? Hiding something under those bands?”

 

Allura looked nervous, afraid even, until Romelle burst out laughing.

 

She elbowed her gently. “I’m only joking! I won’t push if you don’t want to tell me, okay?”

 

Allura visibly relaxed. Locking eyes with Romelle, she flashed a smile, genuine this time. Romelle’s breath caught in her throat.

 

“Thank you. I appreciate that,” Allura said, her hand sliding down Romelle’s arm. It lingered near her hand, until she dropped it, coughing suddenly.

 

“We should go get our showers before someone snitches to a counselor. No matter how cute you look with paint on your nose, we’ll be stuck on kitchen duty for  _ ages _ .” 

 

Romelle’s eyes widened. “Wait—what?”

 

Allura smiled teasingly as she stood up. “Yes, Romelle?”

 

“I…” she trailed off, feeling her face turn a deep red. “Um, never mind.”

 

She quickly followed Allura out of the cabin, trying not to overthink what she said.

 

* * *

 

Hi soulmate!!!

 

Or should I say pRiNCesS

 

Allura rolled her eyes.

 

_ Hey. _

 

Omg you responded!!!1!!!1

 

_ Well yea _

 

_ You’re my soulmate _

 

Awwwwww <3

 

Oh, btw I wanted to talk to you abt smthng

 

_??? _

 

So I got in a paint fight today with a girl at camp

 

I was wondering if it transferred to you

 

Allura froze. She had never considered that. Frantically, she looked down at her arms, relaxing when she saw her skin to be paint free… mostly. Her shower didn’t get  _ all _ of it off.

 

_ Did you remove it already? _

 

Ya.

 

_ K well I don’t see any _

 

_ And I didn’t see any earlier. _

 

Wait so how does this work then?

 

Cause like, markers and pen and eyeliner work

 

(You draw a mean cat eye, btw),

 

But paint doesn’t???

 

_ I honestly have no clue _

 

mY GOD WE’VE BROKEN THE SYSTEM

 

_ Or _

 

_ It just depends on the kind of ink? _

 

Hmmm, maybe

 

U seem pretty smart, so I’m assuming ur right

 

I can look it up later, tho.

 

Allura blushed at the compliment. Knowing this was Romelle she was talking to made it very different. However,  _ she _ still didn’t know it was Allura. Grinning, she typed a new message.

 

_ So who’d you get in the paint fight with? _

 

My roommate.

 

_ Why? _

 

I kinda… insulted her art. But in a NICE way

 

_ Like, you meant it as an insult? _

 

NO.

 

I just was teasing her, then she flicked paint at me, and it all went downhill from there

 

We only stopped cause we ran out of paint

 

_ Sounds fun _

 

It was! She’s super cool, too!

 

Allura took a deep breath. Then, slowly:

 

_ Is she prettyy?? _

 

She meant it to be teasing, but based on the time it was taking for Romelle’s chat bubble to show up, she was in for a long answer.

 

OH MY GOD YES, I CAN FINALLY TALK TO IT ABOUT SOMEONE.

 

Allura nearly dropped the phone in surprise. She tried to keep her tone calm in her text.

 

_ Oh??? _

 

YEA! She’s got like. BRIGHT white hair, and it’s super silvery and I wanna braid it. And her eyes are pretty too

 

Don’t get me STARTED on her fashion sense

 

I might die if I keep thinking abt it, she’s so cute in overalls, I couldn’t stop staring tbh.

 

Allura grinned to herself. Hugging her pillow, she buried her face in it and let out a long squeal. Romelle was gushing about her,  _t_ _ o _ her.

 

_ So you like overalls?? _

 

Only on her. My brother wore them and he looked UGLY AF

 

_ Sounds like a charmer. _

 

Not rly. I told him a girl was trying to compliment him, and he just stared at me blankly. 

 

He didn’t understand she meant it in a flirty way.

 

_ Actually me. _

 

_ It took me ages to realize my crush was flirting with me, one time. _

 

Sounds like smthng I’d do. People should just have a big sign they carry that lights up when they’re flirting w/ you

 

_ Genius. _

 

I know!!!

 

And, she called me cute today!! But idk if it was flirting. Nearly flipped my shit when she said it too.

 

Allura smiled at the memory. In a burst of confidence, she’d blurted it out… and Romelle blushed.  _ Blushed. _ At the time, she didn’t know if it was out of embarrassment or a crush, but now she did. And she couldn’t stop feeling stupidly happy about it.

 

_ Sounds like she likes you, too. _

 

Ya, but I can’t be sure, ya know???

 

_ I guess.. _

 

Imma just keep it to myself for now, tho.

 

_ Kay. Good luck with your crush! <3 _

 

Awwww good luck to u too

 

That’s a general good luck, btw. Not just for romance n stuff.

 

_ I figured. _

 

The chat bubble didn’t show up again, and soon the cabin door swung open. Romelle stepped in, looking down at her phone and smiling. She was wearing a new shirt, with the tank top from earlier draped over her arm. Allura coughed, and her head shot up.

 

“Oh, hey!” She grinned at her as she walked to her side of the room. Since Romelle had spilled all her guts to ‘Princess,’ Allura noticed it all. How her eyes lingered for a second before snapping away. Her nervous shifting from foot to foot.

 

She smiled brightly. “Hi! You in for the night?”

 

Romelle smirked. “Yeah. Paint fights take a lot of energy out of you. I’m lying on my bed, doing nothing until I go to sleep.”

 

Allura giggled. “I’m probably doing the same, actually. I want to plan out tomorrow’s outfit first, though. I’ll be too tired to do it in the morning.”

 

Romelle flopped down on her bed, tossing the dirty tank top into the laundry basket and letting out a long sigh. “Just be quiet about it.”

 

She nodded, then crept over to the drawers and searched through them quietly. Opening her shorts drawer, she beamed triumphantly as she pulled out what she was looking for. Romelle perked up when she saw it.

 

“You’re wearing that tomorrow?” Her voice almost sounded squeaky. Allura glanced over at her, holding the overall shorts up so she could see.

 

“Yeah! I’m just going to wear a plain pink top underneath them. What do you think?”

 

Romelle nodded empathetically, then whipped her head around, searching through her covers. Allura watched, amused, as she finally found her phone.

 

Her own phone buzzed, and for once she was glad she always kept it on silent. After gently laying out the overalls, she swept over to it and glanced at the message from Romelle.

 

YOOOOOO She’s wearing overalls again tomorrow!!!!

 

Im fucking HYPE

 

Allura beamed.

 

_ Good for you _

 

FGHSJGTHAFGH

 

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH EMOTIONAL TORTURE I HAVE TO GO THROUGH WHEN SHE LOOKS THAT CUTE   


 

NO. FUCKING. CLUE.  


 

_ I don’t know, I might have some idea…  _

 

WAIT WHAT

 

DO YOU LIKE SOMEONE TOO   
  


PRINCESS RESPOND

 

PRINCESS?????!!!!!!!

 

Allura glanced over at Romelle and grinned to see her furiously typing away. For someone so expressive in her writing, her face remained passive as she used all caps and exclamation points. Sighing, she went to the bathrooms and prepped for bed, brushing her teeth thoroughly. When she came back, Romelle was asleep, but there was a text lighting up her phone from ‘Duchess’. Allura glanced at it curiously.

 

I know ur not responding, but I did RESEARCH OKAY

 

And ur right abt the ink thing. It’s been tested, and apparently there’s some component that lets certain inks transfer, but not others

 

HOW R U SO SMART???

 

The warm feeling in her chest didn’t go away until she fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, the first chapter in my Romellura fic with actual Romellura!!! It's just a bit of Awkward Pining (TM), but I enjoyed this. Allura is definitely enjoying holding the knowledge over Romelle's head, even if she says it's 'to get to know her better.'
> 
> Please leave a comment telling me what you think, and I can try to improve my writing for the next chapter! Thank you for reading this far!


	6. Sister Snapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...........................................................  
>  So I took a while to upload this chapter.   
> It's worth it though, I promise.  
> Sorry! I've had some SERIOUS writer's block, and I had no plan for this chapter at first. But I came up with an idea to bring Lotor back, and the story wrote itself from there. Not a lot of soul-link stuff here, but it's very plot heavy, so I'm hoping we all can look past that. Don't worry, there'll be a LOT of soulmate stuff next chapter!

“So what’s the deal with you and Allura?”

 

Romelle scoffed up at Ezor. “I don’t know what you mean.”

 

She rolled her eyes. “You know  _ exactly _ what I mean,” she replied, waving a french fry in her direction. “You stare at her, she stares in the moments you’re  _ not _ staring, then you two have this weird flirty thing going on, but you don’t actually flirt. What is it?”

 

She shrugged helplessly in response. Ezor scoffs and takes a bite of her french fry, slumping back in her seat.

 

“Well whatever it is, just do something already. It’s awkward watching you two.”

 

A lunch tray slammed down next to Romelle. “I am  _ exhausted _ ,” Allura announced, dropping herself into a seat and immediately stabbing into her spaghetti. Ezor smirked.

 

“What is it now?” she drawled, grinning impishly. Allura scowled at her.

 

“I just don’t understand! I’ve made it perfectly clear to Lotor that I do  _ not _ want  _ anything _ to do with him, yet he still keeps trying to talk to me. Yesterday, it was a love letter in my cabin. Today, he sent me a bouquet of red roses!”

 

Romelle rolled her eyes. “What an idiot. Everyone knows you use purple hyacinths for apologies!”

 

Ezor stared at her blankly. “No. No we do not know that.”

 

Allura sighed. “I tossed them in the lake and tried to forget about it, but he came up to me in a candle-making class and asked where they were.”

 

Ezor wrinkled her nose. “Does he think you just carry around the flowers someone gives you all day?”

 

“Nope! He went into my cabin  _ without my permission _ , snooped around to see where I put them, saw they were gone, then cornered me about it!”

 

Romelle scoffed. “What an asshole!”

 

She nodded empathetically. “I know!”

 

Ezor leaned forward. “So what are you gonna do about it?”

 

Allura groaned. “There’s nothing I  _ can _ do to make him stop.”

 

Zethrid came to the table and slammed her tray down, causing the entire table to jump. Sitting and wrapping an arm around Ezor, she grinned at them all.

 

“What’re we talking about?”

 

Allura briefly explained to her the Lotor situation.

 

“Deck him in the face.”

 

She shook her head. “I already tried that. It only stopped him for two weeks. Then, yesterday, I found a love letter!”

 

“Punch him again.”

 

“No.”   
  


“I don’t see why you can’t.”

 

“ _ No _ , Zethrid.”

 

She raised a hand dismissively. “Fine, I guess.”

 

Allura breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back in her chair. “Thank you. Now can we please talk about something else  _ besides _ Lotor?”

 

Romelle glanced over at her. Allura was wearing a jean skirt with a graphic tee tucked into the waistband. Her cheeks were dusted with a bright pink highlighter, but no bright colors could mask the dark circles under her eyes. Romelle’s stomach dropped. Before she’d gone to sleep, Allura was still tossing and turning, mumbling incoherently. After the letter from Lotor, she must have been unable to sleep. 

 

She made a grabbing motion with her hands. “C’mere.”

 

Allura glanced at her quizzically. “What?”

 

Romelle wrapped her into a hug, pulling her over to rest her head on her shoulder. 

 

She raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing, Romelle?”

 

“You stayed up all night. You need sleep.”

 

She pouted. “No I don’t.”

 

Romelle out her hand over her mouth. “Shh, no talking. You’re taking a nap, right now.”

 

“I don’t  _ need _ one, th—”

 

“Shhh!”

 

Allura gave up on protesting, finally closing her eyes. Romelle rubbed her back soothingly.

 

Before long, she was snoring softly, her head slipping off Romelle’s shoulder and landing on her lap. Zethrid stole the rest of her spaghetti, while Ezor quirked an eyebrow at Romelle.

 

“Care to tell me what the deal is now?”

 

“Shut it, Ezor.”

 

* * *

 

Allura was well-rested. It felt nice.

 

Lotor’s creepiness made it hard for her to sleep. Even if she didn’t want to admit it, she still felt sad whenever she thought about him. The first few days her anger was still fresh, but after a week, she started to think more about their relationship, and it felt awful. Romelle helped, though. Hanging out with her made it easy for Lotor to leave her mind. Until the love letter came.

 

In an attempt to be nonchalant, she crumbled the note up and tossed it without even reading it. But it still stayed with her, and seeing Lotor out of the corner of her eye during camp activities made it even worse.

 

This? The roses? She couldn’t stop thinking about them all morning. A sense of foreboding settled in the pit of her stomach, and she could barely focus on the candle-making lesson with  _ him _ standing only a few tables away, surreptitiously glancing at her while she chatted with another camper. 

 

Coming into lunch, she felt like shit. The nap made her  _ not _ feel like shit. Of course, most of the work was done by Romelle. She was a comforting presence to Allura, and it was obvious why they were meant to be soulmates.

 

Maybe it was time for Allura to return the favor.

 

They didn’t bother to show up to their next activity; it wasn’t mandatory, anyway. After Allura woke up, she and Romelle walked back to their cabin, chatting about absolutely nothing. 

 

“Excuse me? Allura?”

 

She turned to see a timid looking boy standing behind her, nervously wringing his hands. She tilted her head curiously.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Um…” he trailed off, looking at the ground. Allura coughed impatiently, and he jumped in surprise.

 

“Oh! Uh, sorry. I need to tell you something. It’s about Lotor.”

 

Allura tensed up, and she felt Romelle place her hand on her arm, squeezing gently. She relaxed enough to straighten her posture and glare at the boy.

 

“Whatever Lotor wants to tell me, I don’t want to hear it.” She whipped around and tried to walk away, until he called out again.

 

“It’s not from him!”

 

She stopped in her tracks, turning slowly. “Okay?”

 

He blinked in shock, as if he hadn’t expected her to listen to him. “Um, I sat near him in the arts and crafts cabin, and I overheard him talking about you.”

 

Romelle narrowed her eyes. “What was he saying?”

 

“I didn’t hear the first part of the conversation, but it sounded like he was going to do some big public apology to corner you into saying yes. I know you want nothing to do with him, so I figured you should— hey, where are you going?”

 

The boy barely finished speaking before Allura tore away from them, sprinting into the forest. Romelle looked on as she disappeared, then turned back to the boy, who looked on guiltily.

 

“Did I— Was that  _ my _ fault? Are you mad at me?” He continued to wring his hands, pacing back and forth. Romelle put a hand on his shoulder and he stopped for a second to look up at her with wide eyes.

 

“Believe me, this isn’t your fault. If anything, it’s Lotor’s. Thank you for telling Allura about him.”

 

He nodded. “Oh-okay. Are you gonna follow her? Do you know where she went?”

 

She smirked. “I think I have a bit of an idea.”

 

* * *

 

Just as Romelle thought she would, she found Allura hiding in her little bush by the lake, chucking rocks into the water with a little more force than necessary. She cleared her throat as she came in, and Allura looked up. She seemed surprised at first, but relaxed when she recognized Romelle.

 

“Oh, it’s just you,” she said. She continued to throw rocks.

 

Romelle strode over and put her hand over Allura’s, stopping her from throwing the next one. “If you keep doing that, the turtles won’t like you,” she chided gently.

 

Allura sighed frustratedly. “I know, it’s just- I need a way to let my anger out.” She moved her hand to throw the rock, but Romelle held it firmly.

 

“Allura. This isn’t a good way to deal with your problem. You’re gonna have to face Lotor head on to make it go away.”

 

That’s when she broke down. Allura let out a sob and slipped to the ground, curling up into a little ball as she sighed in frustration.

 

“I don’t understand! Why am I the one who has to deal with his incessant harassing? We’ve been broken up for two weeks, so I thought he was already over it!” She dropped her head and began to cry, the sobs shaking her entire body.

 

Romelle sat down as well, enveloping Allura in a hug. She stroked her hair reassuringly. “Trust me, Allura, you’ll get through this. You're a strong person. Lotor is awful, but you can’t let him stand in your way. Understand me?”

 

Allura looked up at her, tears staining her cheeks. “Yes,” she sniffled.

 

She beamed. “Great.”

 

Allura took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “But I still feel scared. I don’t know how long this is going to go on for, Romelle.”

 

She squeezed her reassuringly. “Me neither, Allura. But remember that you can still punch him in the face, like last time.”

 

“I cried for hours after last time, Romelle.”

 

She smiled gently. “And I was there to comfort you. I’ll be there again this time too, I promise.”

 

Allura uncurled from her hunched up position, and Romelle released her from the hug. They looked out over the water, watching the turtles swim from rock to rock, and the ducks, as they quacked loudly at each other. Their silence lasted only a moment, before Allura turned to Romelle.

 

“Thank you for this. You’ve helped me to realize something I should’ve done the moment I got that love letter.” She leaned over and gave Romelle a quick peck on the cheek, who gasped in response, before standing up. Determination glinted in her eyes.

 

“I’m going to confront Lotor. On my  _ own _ terms.” She pushed the bushes out of her way and stepped into the open air, with Romelle still sitting in the same position as before, an expression of shock on her face. She slowly reached up and touched her cheek softly, in the same place where Allura had kissed her.

 

Allura had kissed her.  _ Allura had kissed her _ . The words repeated over and over in her mind, until her face was bright red. She let out a squeal.

 

Allura had kissed her. And she was making WAY too big a deal out of it.

 

* * *

 

“Lotor!” Allura’s voice rang out as she strode over to him, an angry expression on her face. They were by the lake, where Lotor was hanging out with a few friends. He lit up when he saw her.

 

“Allura! I’ve been meaning to talk to you about—”

 

His words were cut off as Allura slapped him across the face, fuming. His friends quickly backed away, finding something else to look at. Lotor sputtered.

 

“Wait- what’s this about?”

 

She growled. “You know exactly what this is!”

 

Lotor rubbed his cheek, where a bruise was already forming. He looked up at Allura and tried for a weak grin.

 

“I assure you, Allura. Whatever I did, I will apologize for. I just want to talk about our current relationship situation—”

 

She rolled her eyes. “That’s why I’m mad at you! Our ‘relationship situation’? Nonexistent!  _ You _ seem to ignore that, though!”

 

Lotor raised an eyebrow. “I don’t follow.”

 

She scoffed at him. “Roses? A love letter? You didn’t even  _ try _ to apologize for what you did! Just straight to the awful harassment”

 

He stepped closer to her. “Well, you can let me apologize now! Allura, please. I’m sorry.”

 

She stepped away from him. “No you  _ aren’t _ ! And even if you were, it’s far too late! I know you still bully the younger kids. Your actions aren’t lining up with your words, Lotor!”

 

He laughed nervously. “I don’t understand, Allura. Why are you still so hung up on that?”

 

She scowled. “Why am I hung up on you  _ taking advantage of little kids _ , just to get a few laughs? I actually care about other people, Lotor!”

 

“So do I, Allura! Including yo—”

 

“No,” she said firmly, “don’t even fucking say it.”

 

He crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly cold. “Why are you talking to me if you don’t want me to respond?”

 

Allura stalked back over to him, leaning in clsoe to his face. He gulped.

 

“I’m here to tell you to leave. Me. Alone.” She stabbed her finger into is chest with every word. Now it was his turn to stagger away from her.

 

“But why, Allura? I just want to make everything right!”

 

“You mean you just want to make everything right for  _ yourself _ .”

 

“Wai- that’s not true!” He dropped his head, wildly searching for something to say. She smirked, satisfied.

 

“That’s what I thought.”

 

He turned to leave, but Allura called out one more time.

 

“Hey, Lotor! Try actually thinking about other people’s feelings, and  _ maybe _ I’ll  _ consider _ being your friend again.”

 

He shrugged her off, properly pissed off now. “Whatever, Allura. Clearly it’s too late to get through to you anymore.”

 

Lotor motioned to his friends, who followed him as he headed back to the cabins. Allura let out a sigh as he left.  _ It was finally over _ .

 

Allura waited until he disappeared from sight, then let out an excited whoop. She spun in a circle, laughing, then dropped onto the grass, her hair splayed out around her.

 

A voice interrupted her celebration. 

 

“I take it that went well?”

 

Allura grinned when she saw Romelle walking up to her. The sun was setting, so the golden glow reflected off her face, making her look almost angelic. She smiled fondly.

 

“Yeah. Looks like Lotor’s gone for good.”

 

Romelle sat down and lay on the ground with Allura. “Good. It’s nice to see you so happy.”

 

She sighed. “It’s nice to feel this happy, too.”

 

She turned her head and looked at Allura. “We should do something. To celebrate, I mean.”

 

Allura looked back at her, amused. “Like what?”

 

She grinned impishly, pushing herself off the ground and holding out a hand to Allura. “Come with me.”

 

* * *

 

“Where are you taking me?” Allura asked as Romelle led her up the path. After she helped her up, she convinced her to pull her headband over her eyes, so she would have no clue where they were going. Romelle rolled her eyes, despite the fact that Allura couldn’t see it.

 

“It’s a surprise, dummy. Why else would I have you blindfolded?”

 

Allura shrugged. “I don’t know. Dramatic effect, I suppose?”

 

“Yeah, no.”

 

She sighed and continued to let Romelle guide her. She took her to the center of the camp, where the lunch hall was. They were about to push open the door when Allura froze.

 

“Wait- Is this the lunch hall?”

 

She groaned. “Good job, Allura. You’ve ruined your own surprise.”

 

“I’m sorry, but I just know the camp too well already! The path here is basically muscle memory at this point.”

 

Romelle punched her shoulder playfully. “Of course it is. You still need to see what I actually planned, though!”

 

“Fine. Lead me, then.” She grinned underneath the headband blocking her view.

 

They came into the kitchen area, and she knocked gently on the door. It opened, and Romelle removed the headband with a flourish.

 

“Ta-da!”

 

Allura opened her eyes, and she was greeted with the grinning faces of Ezor, and Zethrid from inside the kitchen. She smirked.

 

“Did you two pick the lock?” she asked, amused. The doors always locked after 6:30, when dinner was served. It was 8 right now.

 

Zethrid scoffed. “Of course we did! What do you take us for, people who ask permission?”

 

Allura raised an eyebrow. “While this is cool and all, why are we here?”

 

Romelle pulled on her hand, and they went into the kitchen together. The door swung shut behind them, and Ezor began to rummage through the freezer.

 

"What are you—" Allura started, before Zethrid shushed her. She waited impatiently, until Ezor seemed to find what she was looking for, and let out an excited _“Yes!”_ as she revealed a huge tub of ice cream, labelled as chocolate. Allura gasped.

 

“So we’re _stealing_ the ice cream?”

 

Zethrid took the tub from Ezor and set it gently into a large duffel bag. “No, Allura," she said, deadpan, "I’m putting it in this bag to keep it warm.”

 

Allura chuckled nervously. “This is so bad. Like, seriously bad.”

 

Ezor waved a hand flippantly. “Relax, it’ll be fine! This is a rich people camp, so I _think_ they have enough money to pay back the missing ice cream.”

 

Allura chewed her lip thoughtfully. “Fine,” she said at last.

 

They crept out of the kitchen, Zethrid hefting the bag over her shoulder. When they were safely out of the lunch hall without being detected, everyone sprinted back to Allura and Romelle’s cabin, letting out muffled snickers as they snuck through the door. The bag landed on the ground with a thud, and Ezor pulled out four spoons. Allura tore the lid off the tub, and they all dug in.

 

Ezor lifted up her spoon, laden with ice cream, and everyone followed suit. “To Lotor!” she cried, “May he rest in a big pile of shit!” They all laughed as they took the first bites.

 

~-~-~

 

30 minutes later, and the ice cream was gone. Romelle, Zethrid, Ezor, and Allura all lay on the ground, groaning.

 

“We may have eaten that a little too fast,” Allura moaned, clutching her stomach. Murmurs of agreement filled the small room.

 

Ezor sat up suddenly. “Well, I’ll take that as my cue to leave!” She said, stretching. Zethrid slowly sat up as well, nodding in agreement.

 

“Same here. Our roommate might report us if we’re gone too long. She’s a little snitch.”

 

They bade their goodbyes, and it was now just Allura and Romelle in the room. Allura nudged Romelle’s foot.

 

“How’d you have the time to sort this out?” she asked. Romelle shrugged nonchalantly.

 

“It was nothing, really. Zethrid and Ezor were totally willing to help me get some ice cream, and I asked them while you were going down to the lake. I didn’t think we’d take that much, though.”

 

Allura beamed at her. “Well, I don’t regret it. Tonight was fun.”

 

She smiled back. “Yeah, it was.”

 

They gazed at each other for a moment, taking in each other’s presence. Then, Allura moved across the floor and scooted right up against Romelle. She lay her chin on her shoulder, and Romelle felt her pulse quicken.

 

“We need to clean this up before the morning, don’t we?” she asked, referring to the empty tub and chocolate stains.

 

Romelle felt her face turn red. Allura was so close. The peck on the cheek earlier that day came back to her. “Yeah. I guess we do,” she said, breathless.

 

Then, Allura was even closer. With a tender expression, she wrapped an arm around Romelle, pulling her close to her face. Her breath caught in her throat again.

 

“But we don’t have to do it now, right?” She could smell the chocolate on Allura’s breath.

 

Romelle stared into her eyes. “No, we don’t.”

 

Then she leaned even closer, and Allura and Romelle were kissing. Allura's arm moved up Romelle's back, tangling in her hair. It lasted ten seconds, before Allura softly broke it apart. She stared at Romelle, and a dopey grin broke out on her face. 

  
“You have  _ no idea _ how long I’ve been waiting to do that," she giggled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Grins smugly*  
> ...That was something, wasn't it? These two losers have FINALLY kissed, and I'm proud. Plus, Lotor got what was coming— again.  
> I'm not sure how well this flows, since I took a lot of breaks while writing it, but I particularly liked the Lotor scene. I listened to Bubblegum Bitch while writing it, and that's such a murder-time song to me, so it inspired a lot of the tension in their conversation.  
> I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a comment telling me what you think! Comments are absolute GOLD to me, and your opinions help me improve my writing! Thank you!!!


	7. Oof ouch look it's the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two months. That's how long it's been since I updated this.  
> I've been in a bit of a school slump recently, and the added workload is just making it difficult for me to continue adding to this. When I DID have time, it either didn't occur to me to write, or I was super uninspired. I hope you enjoy this chapter, even if it is super late!

Despite the fact that she now had a girlfriend, Romelle still spoke with her soulmate. They had a good connection, even if it wasn’t romantic. It was supposed to BECOME romantic at some point, but Romelle was fine with waiting until then. She liked Allura, Allura liked her. There wasn’t really anything wrong with it, she reasoned. Besides, she knew for a fact that Allura was still speaking with her soulmate.

 

* * *

 

So.

 

Allura snickered at the terse message. She slowly typed out a response, an amused grin lighting her face.

 

_ Yes? _

 

I just got this CRAZYYYYYY LONG email from my new school.

 

Im a bit worried, tbh.

 

Romelle often came to her with random things that were bothering her. While Allura always talked to her about it, even offering advice at times, she tiptoed around the subjects when she was with Romelle in real life. Knowing too much would make Romelle suspicious, and she wanted to reveal their soul-link on her  _ own _ terms. 

 

_ Talk to me. _

 

WELL

 

Theres this rlly long list abt a bunch of clubs I can join

 

And apparently a squirrel club exists??  

 

_ Lmao, you read through the entire list? _

 

It was INTERESTING okay

 

And also theres a bunch of shit abt the ‘expectations ur supposed to uphold while in this school’ and its making me REALLY nervous cuz its SUPER strict

 

_ Hey, chill. Most schools are barely upholding the reasonable rules. I know mine has a list like that, and kids still smoke in the bathrooms _

 

U sure?????

 

_ Trust me. Just show up and act oblivious. You’ll get away with everything. _

 

lol ok

 

_ So what school is this? _

 

Atlas High

 

Im scurred that i wont make any friends there

 

Allura’s grip loosened on her phone, and it nearly fell to the ground. She deftly caught it, then looked again at the name on her phone. She checked the spelling to make sure it was the same- It was.

 

Romelle was transferring to her high school.

 

_ Romelle was transferring to her high school. _

 

She gasped when it hit her. They’d be seeing each other, every day, for the entire year. It was too good to be true.

 

Allura grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. She screamed into it again. Then, she felt better and turned back to her phone. A stupid smile on her face, she wrote out her reply.

 

_ Something tells me you’re gonna find a great group of people and fit in with them perfectly. _

 

Allura was being honest— she could already picture Romelle and Pidge playing video games together. Romelle and Lance making stupid jokes with each other. Romelle and Hunk bonding over their fear of doing scary things. 

 

Awwwwwww ur so sweet ☆

 

I think id miss my gf, tho

 

We only just got together two days ago

 

And camp ends on Saturday

 

_ I’m sure you’ll find a way to keep in touch. _

 

Whatever Romelle planned on saying in return was interrupted by an ear-piercing bell sounding throughout the camp. It clanged loudly, demanding attention from all the campers. Allura knew exactly what it meant. She got up from her bunk and stretched, and her phone buzzed again.

 

K I gotta go rn, but we’ll talk later, ya?

 

Allura smiled.

 

_ Of course. _

 

* * *

 

Everyone had to go to the camp meeting on Thursday. Which was annoying for Romelle, because it interrupted her chat with her soulmate. She dragged her feet as she walked slowly from the picnic bench to the lunch hall— the only place all the campers fit together.

 

About halfway there, she felt an arm wrap itself around her own. She smiled up at Allura, who gave her a quick peck.

 

“Hello, Romelle.”

 

She snorted, leaning into the touch. “You always sound so formal, Allura.”

 

She rolled her eyes. “This is just how I speak, Romelle.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she replied, grinning.

 

Romelle was slightly less annoyed. Then, she became annoyed again, realizing that she wouldn’t see Allura until camp next year. Nevertheless, they walked arm-in-arm to the lunch hall, where a bright-eyed counselor was standing near the kitchen with a microphone, craning her neck to watch the kids file in. As they took their seats, Romelle heard a shout behind her. She glanced back to see Zethrid jogging towards them. She slung her arms around their necks and squeezed tight.

 

“Hey, lovebirds! Camp’s over in a few days, you know.”

 

Romelle decided not to mention that Zethrid was choking her. Instead, she groaned. “We know, Zethrid. That’s why we’re having this camp meeting, right?” She pouted. “It’s taking time away from my chat with my soulmate.”

 

Zethrid looked between them, a puzzled expression on her face. She released Romelle’s neck and stepped back. “Your soulmate…” She trailed off. Then, “This is the person who draws that heart on your wrist, right?”

 

Romelle nodded excitedly, eager for a subject she enjoyed. “Yes, it’s so cute, isn’t it? We text each other all the time now.”

 

Zethrid furrowed her brow. “And you know her name?”

 

“Well, no. That would ruin the magic of meeting for the first time, wouldn’t it? We still talk about everything together, though.”

 

She dipped her head slowly. “Cool, cool. Imma go sit with Ezor, okay? You losers won’t miss me too much, right?” And Zethrid took off, and Romelle was confused, and Allura was sweating more than usual in the hot summer.

 

* * *

 

Allura shouldn’t have let Zethrid and Ezor see the pink heart on her wrist.

 

It was a stupid little thing, that could lead to big problems. A slip of her bracelets. Ezor grabbing her wrist to peer down at the doodle. A panicked reaction, only making them more suspicious. Now Zethrid knew, and she could tell Romelle. Romelle  _ couldn’t _ hear it from someone else. Allura had to tell her herself.

 

She sat impatiently through the camp meeting, half-heartedly singing along to the music and trying to relax. When they could finally leave, she hastily told Romelle she needed to go somewhere and took off after Zethrid and Ezor.

 

They were waiting for her, with matching cool smirks as she jogged up to them.

 

“Yes, Allura?” Ezor asked mockingly. Allura scowled— she’d forgotten how much of an asshole they both could be.

 

“I don’t want you to tell Romelle,” she stated. Ezor’s expression slipped; she was expecting begging of some sort.

 

Zethrid jumped in. “Why not? You wanna keep it a secret?”

 

She took a shuddering breath. “No. I would like to tell her myself. Before camp ends.”

 

Their expressions switched from sadistic to cheery. “Okay!” Ezor chirped, skipping past Allura to head to her cabin. Zethrid followed after, but not before stopping to give Allura a heavy clap on her shoulder and a reassuring smile. 

 

She went back to her own cabin, locating her phone and checking her texts. To no surprise, Romelle messaged her.

 

I’m annoyed.

 

She looked around to make sure no one would walk in on her.

 

_ Okay? _

 

I don't want camp to end yet!!!

 

_ You were telling me about this earlier, right? _

 

Oh yea, lol

 

But seriously. Im gonna miss my friends when I leave.

 

_ Perhaps you’ll see them again? _

 

Prolly not. They all go to different schools than me

 

Allura snorted. Oh, if only Romelle knew.

 

_ They told you this? _

 

Well, no. but I ASSUME okay

 

_ You may be surprised. _

 

Lmao, okay

 

Way to be fcking ominous

 

_ I’m just offering my advice _

 

Okayyyyy sorryyyy

 

_ You’re really upset about this, aren’t you? _

 

Yea…..

 

_ Like I said earlier. You’ll find a way to keep in touch with your gf and all your friends. _

 

There are only two of them, actually

 

_ Your gf and your two friends. _

 

Ya that works.

 

* * *

 

Romelle knocked on the cabin door lightly before entering. It was hard to tell what exactly she’d be walking into if she didn’t give Zethrid and Ezor some warning. When she pushed open the door, all she saw (thankfully) was the two of them on their own bunks, and their third roommate quietly reading in the corner.

 

Ezor grinned at her when she stepped in. “Romelle! Have a seat,” she said, gesturing to the third bunk. Their roommate looked up, confused, but got up and left when Zethrid hooked her thumb at the door, making no complaints. Romelle took her spot, noting that she left her book. 

 

“So what do you want?” Zethrid asked.

 

She shrugged. “I just wanted to hang out with you guys. Our last real day of camp is tomorrow. Saturday’s just us packing up our stuff, right?”

 

Ezor snorted. “You really think that’s all we do? The last day is fucking insane!”

 

Romelle leaned forward on the bed, intrigued. “Really?”

 

She nodded empathetically. “Oh, yeah. Just wait and see.”

 

“Totally wild,” Zethrid added.

 

“Sounds fun!” she said. “Do you think we could exchange numbers so we can text after camp?”

 

Ezor held out a hand. “Toss it.”

 

She flung her phone over (it had a strong case) and Ezor caught it with ease. She tapped at the screen rapidly, then tossed it back to Romelle.

 

“Our numbers are in. I just texted myself.”

 

She grinned. “Great!”

 

They hung out for another hour or so before the dinner bell ringing brought them back to reality. Romelle felt a bit guilty about missing all the camp activities, but Zethrid and Ezor rarely went to their own, and camp was almost over anyway. She couldn’t help but look forward to the craziness of Saturday, if it was really how Zethrid and Ezor described it.

 

* * *

 

They were dirty liars. Romelle woke up on Saturday to a silence hanging over the camp, as everyone said their last goodbyes and forlornly packed up.

 

She should have figured. Zethrid would never use the word ‘totally’ in a non-ironic way.

 

Allura was already up for the day, and her bedsheets were neatly folded. After three weeks of waking up to her bright smile and strawberry-scented shampoo, the sight of her stripped bed depressed her. 

 

As Romelle brushed her hair, she pulled out a purple marker. The pink heart was already drawn on, but her soulmate had added something new. The doodle was accompanied by small swirls of pinks and reds in sparkly gel pen colors. Romelle smiled fondly as she added her own purple outline. Then, she got out a normal pen.

 

Getting fancy now, are we?

 

_ I just felt like today was special, you know? _

 

She sighed. Even if this was the last time she’d see Allura until next summer, she still had her soulmate.

 

* * *

 

Allura had everything planned out.

 

But she also had  _ nothing _ planned out. 

 

She knew how she wanted to tell Romelle they were soulmates, but she could barely predict what would happen next. Would Romelle be angry? Sad? Happy? It was hard to tell. But she had to tell her eventually, and after today there wouldn’t  _ be _ an eventually, since they wouldn’t see each other for a month.

 

While she waited in the lunch hall, absentmindedly gnawing on a piece of bacon, someone sat down next to her. She looked up to see a broad-shouldered girl wearing a purple headscarf on the bench with her. She had a thick pair of glasses and a large cat pin on her shirt. Allura squinted.

 

“Can I help you?” she asked. The girl looked at her with a blank expression.

 

“I’m Zethrid and Ezor’s roommate, Narti.”

 

Allura blinked. “Oh! Nice to meet you then! I’m—”

 

“Allura, I know. I’ve seen you before,” she interrupted, “I’m here to let you know that Romelle is in their cabin and I know you’re waiting for her.”

 

She blinked again. Narti had absolutely no expression on her face, merely stating facts in a monotone voice. It was a bit unnerving. Allura took note of how she said  _ their _ cabin, not  _ our _ . 

 

She dipped her head graciously. “Thank you for telling me. I’d love to talk again sometime.”

 

Narti held her gaze. Then: “Okay.” 

 

She stepped up from the table and walked away.

 

Allura released the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Narti confused her. But, she was right. Finishing the last of her bacon, Allura made her way out to Zethrid and Ezor’s cabin, ready to talk to Romelle.

 

* * *

 

She was just stepping out of their cabin when she got there. Romelle immediately saw her and ran forward, crushing her in a tight hug.

 

“Allura! It’s so good to see you. I don’t want to say goodbye!”

 

Allura returned the hug and was struck by just how much she cared about her. If they weren’t soulmates, she wouldn’t know how they would say goodbye.

 

She pulled back and looked into Romelle’s eyes. “Everyone must say goodbye at some point. But you know that we’ll see each other again, right?”

 

Romelle sighed. “I know, I know. We’ll be together again next summer. But I don’t want to wait that long!” She wrapped her arm firmly around Allura’s, as if she could stop their separation by holding on as tight as possible.

 

Allura could tell her now. But she wanted it to be more private. So she smiled at Romelle as she said, “Let’s go down to our spot by the lake. I have something to tell you.”

 

Romelle’s eyes lit up. “Yes!” she cried. She let go of Allura’s arm only to grab her hand as they sprinted into the woods, laughing with excitement. It dissolved into muffled giggles as they made their way past the rest of the cabins, then grew louder as they reached the bushes. Romelle dove into them first, then stuck out her head to motion to Allura.

 

“Come on!” she giggled. Sticks and leaves had tangled themselves in her hair, and it looked positively adorable. Allura followed her in, then sat down and watched as she struggled to get them out.

 

“It’s nice to spend some time alone before we have to leave,” she said, flicking a leaf into the water, “You know, since we aren’t—”

 

“Actually,” Allura said, gathering her resolve. “We’re going to be seeing each other a lot more.”

 

Romelle looked at her quizzically. “What do you mean?”

 

“I mean—” she began discreetly undoing the knots on her bracelets— “you’re transferring to my school this September.”

 

She blinked down at Allura. “What?”

 

Allura smirked. “You’re going to Atlas High, are you not?”

 

Romelle was at a loss for words. "I mean, yea, but… I-I didn’t think—” she stopped. “Wait, how do you know? I never told you, did I?”

 

The last bracelet was off. She stood up slowly and lifted her wrist. “You did, actually. Two days ago, when we were texting.”

 

Romelle gasped. “So you’re…” she trailed off. Allura finished for her.

 

“I’m your soulmate, yes.”

 

* * *

 

Romelle looked at her wrist. Then Allura’s. Then hers again. The designs matched perfectly. She even saw her scrawling handwriting on Allura’s forearm, with a reply in elegant letters that she should have known would be hers. Her eyes filled with tears, for two different reasons. One, they would be going to the same high school and see each other every day, and two,  _ they were soulmates _ . 

 

Romelle ran forward and enveloped Allura in a hug. She buried her head in her shoulder and breathed in the smell of sunscreen and strawberries. Allura squeezed back, pressing her own face into Romelle’s hair.

 

“It’s you. I can't believe it.” She was full on sobbing now. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

Allura moved her head away and bowed it in shame. “I was afraid. I didn’t think you’d believe me, and we didn’t know each other well enough for it to work out. It would have been awkward, I just know it.”

 

Romelle considered this for a second, her head still in Allura's shoulder. "Huh," she said.

 

She looked down with uncertainty in her eyes. “Are you angry with me? For not telling you?”

 

Romelle finally lifted her head to meet her gaze. She smiled weakly as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

 

“Of course not."

 

Then, she kissed Allura. It felt more real than ever before, now that she knew that it was meant to be—  _ they _ were meant to be. She tasted salt on her lips, and broke the kiss to look at Allura again. She was crying too. They shared a laugh.

 

“Looks like we’re both messes,” Allura said shakily. Romelle grinned. She pressed their foreheads together, and they stood like that for a while. Then, she broke the peaceful silence.   


 

“Hey, Allura?”

 

She opened her eyes and shifted her head. Their noses bumped together. “Yes?”

 

“I’m glad it’s you.”

 

* * *

 

Allura cast one last look over the room, before hefting her suitcase and joining Romelle by the path. She was talking into her phone, and Bandor was cross-legged on the ground next to her, picking at grass boredly.

 

Finally, the other person said something Romelle seemed to be satisfied with, ansod she hung up and turned to Allura.

 

“That was our father. He got lost in the camp, and I was giving him directions to us. We’ll be going soon.”

 

Allura leaned over and threaded her fingers through Romelle’s hair. “This sounds a bit crazy, but I honestly can’t wait for school to start again.”

 

Romelle smiled stupidly as Allura spun her around and began braiding her hair. “Really?”

 

She nodded. “Yes. It means I can see you again.”

 

Bandor groaned loudly from the ground. “Don’t tell me you two are going to start being all lovey-dovey right here!” he complained.

 

Romelle glared at him. “You’re a little pest, you know that?”

 

“You drew a dick on my face,” he countered.

 

She was about to reply, but a car pulled up that took her attention away from Bandor. The window rolled down, and the man inside leaned out.

 

“Hurry up and get in, otherwise I’m leaving you two at camp, ya hear me?”

 

Bandor giggled and began to grab his bags, and Allura finished off the braid.

 

“I can’t wait for you to meet my friends,” she told her. “You’ll love them.”

 

Romelle grinned and lifted her luggage. “You should wait to tell them. Keep it a surprise and let them figure it out on their own.

 

Allura’s smile widened. “Oh, Pidge is going to  _ love _ you.”

 

Romelle carried her bags to the car and tossed them in. She started to climb in herself, then stopped. She ran back over to Allura and kissed her once more.

 

“Until next time?”

 

Allura tilted her head, brushing away a strand of hair that had come loose from Romelle's braid.

 

“Until next time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you think I should write an epilogue? I don't know.
> 
> I'm proud of how this fic turned out, tbh. I was reading back the past chapters for a quick refresher, and honestly, it looks SO much cleaner and well thought out than the other fics I've posted.  
> (*cough* Another Soulmate AU *cough*)
> 
> Sorry if Narti seemed a little shoehorned in there. I wanted it to be a little plot twist- look, this unnamed character is actually one you all recognize!- but lemme know what yo thought of that.
> 
> Please let me know what you thought of this, so I can work on improving how I write.
> 
> As for my next story, I'm pretty much done with writing vld fics (especially since the series has ended), but I have an idea for a She-ra fic-- highschool au obvi, cause I'm TRASH for that shit.
> 
> I'm also thinking about a rewrite of my klance au, and I wanna include some elements from seasons 7 and 8 in it. But we'll see how that goes.
> 
> It'll probably be a while until I upload anything again, but y'all know it's gonna be dope as fuck when I eventually do, so please check it out when I post it.
> 
> Until next time, my friends.

**Author's Note:**

> -Oh my God they were roommates-
> 
> (Was that intentional? No. But I saw the opportunity for a vine reference, so I took it)
> 
> I just want to say, this is probably very different from their characterization in my other fic. That was ~before~ season 7 came out, so I had absolutely no clue what to do with Romelle. Now, I have a better understanding.
> 
> Also, I looked it up, and green chia pudding is apparently a really healthy breakfast! So my new headcanon is that that's what they always ate in the castle, You can't change my mind.
> 
> Lemme know what you think, and feel free to ask questions! I love to read feedback for my fics. Thank you!!!


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